/BERKELEY 

LP.RARY 

UNIVERSITY  OP 

V^  CALIFORNIA 


EARTH 
SCIENCES 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA. 

Class 


BERK 

LP.R, 

UNIVERS 

CALIFC 


EARTH 
SCIENCE 


GEOLOGICAL  REPORT 


OF  THK 


COUNTRY  ALONG  THE  LINE 


OF   THE 


SOUTH-WESTERN  BRANCH 


PACIFIC   RAILROAD, 

STATE   OF   MISSOURI. 

in 

e.  c.  SWALLOW, 


STATK    GEOLOGIST. 


To  which  zv  prefixed  a  Memoir  of  the  Pacific  Railroad, 


ST.    LOUIS: 

PRINTED     BY     GEORGE     KNAPP     &     CO 

1859. 


BERK 

LP.R, 

UNIYERS 

CALIFC 


EARTH 
SCIENCE 


HISTORICAL     MEMOIR 


OF   THE 


PACIFIC  RAILROAD  OF  MISSOURI, 


Previous  to  1850,  little  or  no  attention  had  been  given  to 
the  subject  of  internal  improvements  in  the  State  of  Missouri. 
A  Board  of  Improvement  had  been  created  in  1840,  but  nothing 
further  was  done  than  to  make  a  survey  for  a  railroad  from  St. 
Louis  to  the  Iron  Mountain,  by  the  way  of  Big  river,  and  some 
surveys  of  the  Osage  river,  with  a  view  of  improving  its  navi- 
gation. 

The  subject  of  a  railroad  across  the  continent  having  been 
discussed  in  various  quarters,  for  several  years,  Col.  Benton, 
then  U.  S.  Senator  for  Missouri,  on  the  7th  of  February,  1849, 
introduced  a  bill  into  the  United  States  Senate  to  provide  for 
the  location  and  construction  of  a  Central  National  Road  from 
the  Pacific  Ocean  to  the  Mississippi  river — to  be  an  iron  rail- 
way where  practicable,  and  a  wagon  road  were  a  railway  was 
not  practicable — and  proposed  to  set  apart  seventy-five  per  cent, 
of  the  proceeds  of  the  sales  of  the  public  lands  in  Oregon  and 
California,  and  fifty  per  cent,  of  the  proceeds  of  all  other  sales 
of  the  public  lands,  to  defray  the  costs  of  its  location  and  con- 
struction. 

On  the  20th  February,  a  spirited  public  meeting  was  held 
at  the  Court-house  in  St.  Louis,  and  a  series  of  resolutions,  in- 
troduced by  Thomas  Allen,  was  adopted,  requesting  the  Legis- 
lature, then  in  session,  to  grant  a  charter  and  right  of  way,  &c., 
for  a  railway  across  the  State,  from  St.  Louis  to  the  western 
boundary. 


IV  HISTORICAL  MEMOIR. 

On  the  12th  March,  1849,  a  charter  was  granted,  providing 
for  a  capital  of  110,000,000,  and  with  "  power  to  survey,  mark, 
locate  and  construct  a  railroad  from  the  city  of  St.  Louis  to  the 
city  of  Jefferson  ;  and  thence  to  some  point  on  the  western  line 
of  Van  Buren  county,  in  this  State,  with  a  view  that  the  same 
may  be  hereafter  continued  westwardly  to  the  Pacific  Ocean." 
The  corporators  named  in  the  charter  were  John  O'Fallon, 
Louis  Y.  Bogy,  James  H.  Lucas,  Edward  Walsh,  George  Col- 
lier, Thomas  B.  Hudson,  Daniel  D.  Page,  Henry  M.  Shreve, 
James  E.  Yeatman,  John  B.  Sarpy,  Wayman  Crow,  Joshua  B. 
Brant,  Thomas  Allen,  Robert  Campbell,  Pierre  Chouteau,  Jr., 
Henry  Shaw,  Bernard  Pratte,  Ernst  Angelrodt,  Adolphus  Meier, 
Louis  A.  Benoist  and  Adam  L.  Mills. 

In  the  spring  of  the  same  year  another  meeting  was  held  in 
St.  Louis  for  the  purpose  of  calling  a  National  Convention,  to 
be  held  in  St.  Louis  in  October,  and  a  committee  of  twenty- 
five  citizens  was  appointed  to  make  the  necessary  arrangements. 
A  spirited  address  to  the  people  of  the  United  States,  written 
by  Thomas  Allen,  was  issued,  and  a  large  convention,  at 
which  fifteen  States  were  represented,  of  which  the  Hon. 
George  Darsie,  of  Pennsylvania,  was  President,  was  held  at 
the  Court-house,  in  St.  Louis,  during  the  15th,  16th,  17th  and 
18th  days  of  October.  This  convention  warmly  commended 
the  project  of  a  National  Pacific  Railway  across  the  continent, 
and  made  an  address  to  the  people  of  the  United  States  and  a 
memorial  to  Congress  in  its  behalf. 

In  January,  1850,  Mr.  Thomas  Allen,  over  his  own  signa- 
ture, in  the  Missouri  Republican,  published  the  charter  granted 
by  the  Legislature  and  called  a  meeting  of  the  corporators. 
This  meeting  was  held  at  the  office  of  the  St.  Louis  Insurance 
Company,  on  Thursday  evening,  January  31,  1850.  There 
were  present  at  this  meeting,  John  O'Fallon,  James  H.  Lucas, 
D.  D.  Page,  Wayman  Crow,  Edward  Walsh,  George  Collier,  J. 
B.  Brant,  James  E.  Yeatman,  Adolphus  Meier,  Adam  L.  Mills 
and  Thomas  Allen. 

Mr.  Allen  made  an  elaborate  address,  which  produced  a  de- 
cided impression,  in  favor  of  commencing  the  work  of  making 
railways  in  Missouri.  At  this  time  not  a  single  railroad  touch- 
ed St.  Louis  on  either  side  of  the  Mississippi,  nor  was  any  built 


HISTORICAL  MEMOIR.  V 

in  the  vicinity.  The  Erie  Railroad  was  not  completed,  and  only 
7,000  miles  of  railroad  had  been  constructed  in  the  United 
States. 

The  result  of  the  meeting  was  an  immediate  organization  ot 
a  company,  and  a  subscription  on  the  §pot,  by  the  eleven  gen- 
tlemen present,  of  $154,000.  Books  for  further  subscriptions 
were  ordered  to  be  opened  ;  a  committee  was  appointed  to 
make  arrangements  for  a  general  topographical  and  geological 
survey  of  the  country,  and  to  prepare  a  memorial  to  Congress 
for  a  donation  of  alternate  sections  of  public  lands  along  the 
route  for  the  construction  of  the  proposed  road.  At  that  time 
there  were  large  bodies  of  public  land  in  the  State  open  to  pri- 
vate entry,  29,216,000  acres,  as  was  stated  in  the  memorial  to 
Congress,  remaining  unsold. 

The  preliminary  meeting  above  alluded  to  was  organized  by 
the  election  of  JOHN  O'FALLON,  President,  THOMAS  ALLEN, 
Secretary,  and  D.  D.  PAGE,  Treasurer.  This  organization  soon 
afterwards  settled  down  into  a  more  permanent  form  for  the 
year  1850,  in  the  selection  of  THOMAS  ALLEN,  President,  Secre- 
tary and  Treasurer,  and  JAMES  H.  LUCAS,  Vice  President. 
Early  in  the  season,  JAMES  P.  KIRKWOOD,  of  New  York,  was  se- 
lected as  Chief  Engineer.  Books  of  subscription  having  been 
opened  at  the  Merchants'  Exchange  in  St.  Louis,  the  sum  of 
one  million  of  dollars  was  subscribed  by  citizens  of  St.  Louis 
by  the  1st  March. 

The  following  gentlemen  were  elected  Directors  for  the  first 
year:  Thomas  Allen,  James  H.  Lucas,  D.  D.  Page,  Edward 
Walsh,  George  Collier,  James  E.  Yeatman,  L.  M.  Kennett, 
Louis  A.  Labeaume  and  James  Harrison.  The  preliminary 
surveys  were  commenced  on  the  24th  May,  and  were  closed  on 
the  29th  November,  1850. 

Five  different  lines  were  surveyed,  embracing  in  the  whole 
over  800  miles  of  survey.  Taking  into  consideration  as  well 
the  estimated  cost  of  construction  of  the  different  lines,  as  the 
probable  need  of  a  branch  to  the  Iron  Mountain,  and  to  the 
South-west  part  of  the  State,  the  location,  by  Mill  creek  valley, 
valley  of  the  River  Des  Peres,  and  by  the  valley  of  the  Mera- 
mec,  was  adopted  on  the  18th  of  June,  1851. 

During  the  progress  of  the  surveys  the  President  personally 


VI  HISTORICAL    MEMOIR. 

visited  and  addressed  the  people  and  the  county  courts  of  nearly 
every  county  from  St.  Louis  to  the  western  boundary,  and  also 
laid  his  plans  before  the  Governor  of  the  State,  which  the  Gov- 
ernor, after  due  consideration,  substantially  adopted.  The 
City  and  County  of  St.  Louis,  and  the  County  of  Jackson,  sub- 
scribed to  the  stock.  Petitions  to  Congress  in  behalf  of  a  grant 
of  land,  as  applied  for  by  the  Company,  were  circulated  and 
numerously  signed  in  all  the  counties  along  the  proposed  line, 
and  in  due  time  transmitted  to  Congress. 

The  first  division  of  the  road  (33  miles)  having  been  put  under 
contract,  the  first  spadefull  of  earth  was  removed,  in  the  ab- 
sence of  the  Governor,  by  the  then  Mayor  of  the  City,  Mr.  Ken- 
nett,  on  the  4th  of  July,  in  the  presence  of  a  large  and  enthu- 
siastic audience,  who  were  first  addressed  by  the  President  and 
Hon.  Edward  Bates.  This  memorable  event  took  place  at  a 
point  on  the  south  bank  of  Chouteau  Pond,  on  Mr.  Minckes' 
ground,  west  of  Fifteenth  street. 

At  the  ensuing  session  of  Congress,  held  in  1850-'51,  a  bill 
passed  the  Senate  of  the  U.  S.,  granting  for  the  railroad  alter- 
nate sections  of  land  for  a  space  of  six  miles  in  width  on  each 
side,  but  was  not  reached  in  the  House  of  Representatives. 
In  the  same  winter  of  1850-'51,  the  President  having  been 
elected  to  the  State  Senate,  a  plan  for  a  complete  system  of 
railroads  for  the  State  was  laid  before  the  Legislature  by  him, 
including  a  form  of  State  aid  by  a  loan  of  the  public  credit. 
This  plan,  which  was  soon  adopted  with  some  variation  of 
starting  points,  contemplated  the  issue  of  State  bonds  to  the 
Railroad  Company  to  an  amount  equal  to  the  amount  first  to 
be  advanced  by  the  stockholders,  the  Company  agreeing  to  pay 
the  interest  and  principal  of  the  bonds,  and  the  State  reserving 
a  first  lien  on  the  road  as  security.  The  first  act  was  approved 
February  22d,  1851,  and  provided  for  the  issue  to  the  extent 
of  two  millions  of  State  bonds  to  the  Pacific  Railroad  Company, 
in  sums  of  $50,000,  upon  satisfactory  evidence  being  furnished 
to  the  Governor,  at  each  application,  that  a  like  sum  of  $50,- 
000  had  been  expended  by  the  Company,  derived  from  sources 
other  than  State  bonds ;  and  provided,  that  the  bonds  should 
not  be  sold  below  par.  These  bonds  having  twenty  years  to 
run,  and  bearing  six  per  cent,  interest,  were  sold  for  a  premium 


HISTORICAL  MEMOIR.  Vll 

for  more  than  a  year  and  a  half,  and  some  were  sold  as  high 
as  110.     Some   important  amendments  to  the  charter  were 
granted  at  the  same  session,  by  an  act  approved  March  1,  1851. 
Persevering  in  the  effort  for  a  grant  of  public  lands,  Congress, 
on  the  10th  June,  1852,  passed  an  act  granting  to  the  State  of 
Missouri  the  alternate  sections  of  land  in  a  strip  six  sections 
in  width  on  each  side  of  the  line,  for  the  construction  of  a 
railroad  from  St.  Louis  to  the  western  boundary  of  the  State. 
Soon  after  the  passage  of  this  act,  the  Company  petitioned  the 
Governor  to  call  an  extra  session  of  the  Legislature,  and  the 
then   Governor,   Mr.  King,   complied  with  the  request.     So 
largely  had  individuals  entered  the  public  lands  the  previous 
year  or  two,  in  consequence  of  the  railroad  surveys,  that  it  was 
soon  discovered  that  the  grant  would  be  of  little  value  for  con- 
structing a  railroad  in  a  direct  line  westward  from  St.  Louis 
to   the   Western   boundary.     Therefore,    in  view   of  the  im- 
mense district  of  country  lying  at  the  South-west,  known  to 
be  desirable  in  soil,  climate  and  minerals,  yet  inaccessible,  and 
also  in  view  of  the  probability  that  a  good  route  for  the  Na- 
tional road  to  California  might  be  found  along  the  35th  paral- 
lel, it  was  deemed  advisable  to  make  a  fork  in  the  line  of  road, 
and  run  the  main  trunk  nearly  west  in  the  direction  of  Kansas, 
via  the  State  capital,  and  the  fork  or  Branch  in  the  South- 
western direction.     To  the  road  from  St.  Louis  to  the  point  of 
divergence  from  the  main  line,  and  thence  to  the  South-west 
boundary  of  the  State,  the  State  granted  the    lands  by  the  act 
of   December    20th,    1852,    without  bonus  and  with    an  ex- 
emption from  taxation,  until  the  road  could  pay  a  dividend  ; 
and  with  also  a  further  loan  of  11,000,000  to  the  main  line, 
and  81,000,000  to  the  South-west  branch.     The  right  of  pre- 
emption to  actual  settlers  already  on  the  lands,  at  |2.50  per 
acre,  was,  however,  reserved. 

Mr.  Allen,  President  of  the  Company,  was  appointed  the 
agent  of  the  State  to  select  the  lands,  and  for  that  purpose  he 
went  to  Washington  City.  The  lands  selected,  and  the  sched- 
ule of  which,  as  furnished  by  the  General  Land  Office,  has  the 
force  of  a  patent,  amounted  to  about  1,200,000  acres. 

The  Pacific  Railroad  Company,  having  surveyed  a  route  for 
a  Branch  Railroad  to  the  Iron  Mountain,  to  cross  the  Meramec 


Vlll  HISTORICAL   MEMOIR. 

near  the  mouth  of  Calvey  creek,  in  Franklin  county,  and  run  on 
an  interior  ridge,  west  of  Big  river,  via  Potosi,  and  reported 
that  the  Iron  Mountain  could  thus  be  reached  by  building 
about  sixty  miles  additional  of  railroad,  at  a  cost  of  two  or  two 
and  a  half  millions,  the  Legislature  granted  a  loan  to  the 
Company  for  that  branch  of  $750,000.  Some  clamor  springing 
up  for  a  "  direct  line"  to  the  Iron  Mountain  from  St.  Louis, 
this  loan  was  subsequently  yielded  and  transferred  to  the  St. 
Louis  and  Iron  Mountain  Railroad.  At  the  same  session  of  the 
Legislature,  a  general  railroad  law  was  enacted,  February  24, 
1853,  fixing  the  guage  of  all  railroads  in  the  State  at  five  feet 
six  inches,  and  providing  for  the  levy  and  collection  of  taxes 
to  pay  subscriptions  to  railroads  made  by  municipal  corpora- 
tions and  for  the  conversion  of  the  same  into  stock. 

On  the  motion  of  the  President  of  the  Company,  also,  (then 
Mr.  Allen),  a  loan  was  enacted  for  the  first  time,  providing  for 
a  Geological  survey  of  the  State,  and  appropriating  110,000 
a  year  for  two  years,  for  that  object.  One  of  the  consequences 
which  has  flowed  from  that  law  is,  the  accompanying  interest- 
ing report  of  the  State  Geologist,  upon  the  geology  of  the  coun- 
try, rich  in  minerals,  through  which  the  South-west  branch  of 
the  Pacific  Railroad  is  located.  An  act  was  also  passed  the 
same  day,  authorizing  the  Pacific  Railroad  Company  to  extend, 
construct,  and  operate  their  road,  or  make  contracts,  <fcc.,  to  any 
point  west  of  the  State  boundary — having  in  view  a  connection 
with  a  National  road. 

It  was  on  the  31st  March,  1853,  that  Congress  provided  for 
such  explorations  and  surveys  as  the  War  Department  might 
deem  advisable,  in  order  to  ascertain  the  most  practicable  and 
economical  route  for  a  railroad  from  the  Mississippi  river  to 
the  Pacific  Ocean.  Very  soon  after,  Mr.  Allen,  being  then  in 
Washington,  and  believing  a  route  in  that  direction  practica- 
ble, proposed  to  the  Secretary  of  War  to  make  a  survey,  without 
expense  to  the  government,  for  a  railroad  through  South-western 
Missouri,  and  thence  by  the  way  of  the  Canadian  river  and 
Albuquerque,  &c.,  to  California  (the  route  now,  in  part,  travel- 
led by  the  overland  mail)  ;  provided,  that  the  results  of  the 
survey  should  be  reported  with  those  of  the  Army  Engineers. 
The  proposition  was  declined. 


HISTORICAL   MEMOIR.  IX 

In  November,  1852,  the  first  Locomotive,  the  "Pacific," 
manufactured  at  Taunton,  Mass.,  was  placed  upon  the  track, 
at  the  machine  shop  erected  by  the  Company,  and  ran  out  to 
the  Manchester  road,  and  was  quite  a  noticeable  and  marked 
event  in  this  State. 

In  December,  1852,  a  train,  loaded  with  passengers,  ran  out 
to  Cheltenham,  about  five  miles,  where  a  large  company  was 
entertained  at  a  public  dinner  given  by  the  President.  During 
the  same  year,  Thomas  S.  O'Sullivan,  Esq.,  having  been  elected 
Chief  Engineer,  on  the  resignation  of  Mr.  Kirkwood,  the  South- 
west branch  was  surveyed  and  located,  under  the  immediate 
charge  of  his  Assistant,  James  K.  Ford,  Esq. 

In  July,  1853,  the  First  Division  was  opened  from  St.  .Louis 
to  Franklin,  a  distance  of  38  miles,  and  the  event,  was  appro- 
priately celebrated  at  that  place.     In  the  spring  of  that  year, 
the  President  being  then  in  New  York,  a  contract  was  made 
with  Diven,  Stancliff  &  Co.,  for  the  construction  of  the  whole 
South-western  branch.     An  ebb-tide  in  monetary  affairs  ren- 
dering it  difficult  to  negotiate  loans  on  Railroad  securities,  as 
contemplated,  a  meeting  of  stockholders  was  held  at  Mercantile 
Library  Hall,  and  it  was  proposed  that  the  County  of  St.  Louis 
make  an  additional  subscription  of  $1,200,000  to  the  capital 
stock  of  the  Company,  to  be  paid  by  taxation  within  four  years, 
and  that  the  stockholders  claim  no  exemption  from  the  tax,  as 
the  law  allowed,  in  consequence  of  their  being  already  subscri- 
bers.    The  President,  Mr.  Allen,  who  had  devoted  his  time  and 
energies  to  the  starting  of  the  enterprise,  the  first  year  without 
pay,  and  during  the  last  at  a  salary  of  $1500  per  annum,  willing 
still  to  make  sacrifices  for  the  cause,  and  desirous  of  attracting 
public  attention  at  once  to  the  necessities  of  the  case,  and  to 
propitiate  all  opposition,  if  any,  on  the  score  of  long  continu- 
ance in  office,  tendered  his  resignation  ;  this  was  at  length  ac- 
cepted, and  Hudson  E.  Bridge,  Esq.,  was   elected  President, 
April  25, 1854.     At  the  election  which  took  place,  on  the  ques- 
tion of  making  the  subscription  and  levying  the  heavy  tax  pro- 
posed on  the  part  of  the  County  of  St.  Louis,  it  was  decided 
affirmatively  by  a  vote  of   3420  yeas  to  1133  nays.     Thus  the 
people  of  St.  Louis  made  themselves  the  first  example  in  the 


X  HISTORICAL  MEMOIR. 

State  under  the  law  authorizing  the  imposition  of  taxes  for 
railroad  purposes. 

The  Legislature,  by  an  act  approved  Feb.  10,  1855,  modified 
the  law  in  regard  to  the  issue  of  State  bonds  as  loans  to  the 
Railroads,  so  far  as  the  amount  was  limited  to  the  particular 
sum  of  850,000  to  be  applied  for  at  any  one  time,  leaving  the 
amounts  within  the  general  limit  optional,  and  permitting  sales 
at  market  price. 

The  work  was  pushed  forward  on  all  the  contracts  to  Jeffer- 
son City  that  year ;  and  in  September,  the  work  under  the  con- 
tract for  the  South-western  road  was  also  commenced. 

A  contract  was  also  entered  into  to  construct  the  main  line 
of  the  road  between  Jefferson  City  and  the  "Western  boundary, 
with  Messrs.  Kirkwood,  Porter  &  Co.  The  superstructure  of 
the  main  line  being  principally  laid  nearly  to  Jefferson  City, 
(125  miles,)  a  few  of  the  bridges  only  requiring  completion 
and  trestle  work  being  temporarily  substituted,  an  excursion 
was  planned,  in  view  of  the  then  approaching  session  of  the 
Legislature,  to  take  place  on  the  1st  November.  A  splendid 
train  of  ten  passenger  cars  started  from  St.  Louis  loaded  with 
the  elite  gentlemen  of  the  city  and  surrounding  country,  one 
lady  only  being  present — as  precious,  goodly  and  cheerful  a 
company  as  ever  breathed  the  air  of  a  hopeful  morning — but 
was  fatally  precipitated,  from  too  much  speed  and  too  weak  a 
structure,  at  the  foot  of  the  first  pier  of  the  Gasconade  trestle 
work,  108  miles  from  St.  Louis.  There  the  Chief  Engineer, 
and  thirty-one  others,  prominent  and  worthy  men,  were  instantly 
killed.  This  lamentable  accident  caused  some  delay.  The 
direct  damage  to  the  running  stock  of  the  Company  was  about 
$21,750. 

It  appearing,  from  experience,  that  the  cost  of  our  railroads 
had  been  under-estimated,  it  became  necessary  for  the  ensuing 
Legislature  to  make  further  provision  for  them.  "With  wise 
precaution  they  first,  on  the  7th  of  December,  1855,  enacted  a 
law  to  secure  the  prompt  payment  of  the  interest  on  the  State 
bonds,  by  requiring  the  setting  apart  out  of  the  State  Treasury, 
on  the  1st  July,  1856,  the  sum  of  1200,000  as  a  basis  of  a  State 
Interest  Fund,  and  the  further  sum  of  $100,000  annually  for 
thirteen  years.  The  Treasurer  and  Auditor  of  the  State  were 


HISTORICAL  MEMOIR.  XI 

made  Commissioners  of  this  Fund ;  and  in  case  any  Railroad 
Company  failed  to  deposit  with  the  Treasurer  of  the  State  a  suffi- 
cient sum  to  meet  the  interest  upon  any  State  bonds  loaned  to 
them  thirty  days  before  the  interest  becomes  due,  the  Auditor 
is  required  to  pay  out  of  the  fund  to  the  Treasurer  a  sum  suffi- 
cient to  pay  the  interest  as  it  falls  due,  such  sum  to  be  re- 
funded by  the  delinquent  Railroad  Company,  under  penalty  of 
receiving  no  more  bonds  and  forfeiting  their  road  to  the  State. 

The  Legislature  then,  on  the  10th  December,  1855,  enacted 
that  the  State  bonds  might  be  issued  to  the  Railroad  Companies 
in  the  proportion  of  two  dollars  of  loan  advanced  for  one  ex- 
pended by  the  stockholders,  and  thus  granted  the  further  sum 
of  two  millions  to  the  main  trunk  line  of  the  Pacific  Road,  and 
also  transferred  to  said  main  line  the  one  million  before  au- 
thorized for  the  South-west  branch.  The  Company  was  also 
authorized  to  mortgage  a  million  acres  of  their  lands  and 
Southwest  branch,  and  issue  their  own  bonds  thereon  to  the 
extent  of  ten  millions,  to  aid  them  to  construct  that  branch,  the 
State  agreeing  to  guaranty  three  millions  of  those  Company 
bonds,  the  proceeds  to  be  expended  on  the  first  114  miles  of 
the  South-west  branch,  reaching  from  Franklin  to  a  point  be- 
yond the  Gasconade  river  ;  but  the  Company  were  required  to 
expend  $ 50,000,  to  be  derived  from  other  sources,  for  every 
$100,000  of  bonds  to  be  guarantied.  This  act  required  the 
first  division  of  that  branch  to  be  completed  within  three  years 
from  its  date,  under  penalty  of  forfeiture  of  the  road  to  the 
State,  its  lands  and  franchises,  by  operation  of  law,  subject  only 
to  the  mortgage  above  mentioned.  That  law  also  extended 
the  privileges  of  actual  settlers  on  railroad  lands,  by  granting 
them  rights  of  pre-emption  at  $2.50  per  acre  to  the  extent  of 
fifteen  miles  from  the  road. 

The  act  also  created  and  established  a  Board  of  Public 
Works,  consisting  of  three  persons,  not  stockholders,  to  be  (after 
the  first  appointed  by  the  Governor)  elected  by  the  people  for 
four  years,  the  first  election  in  1856,  and  further  required  each 
Railroad  Company  to  set  aside  and  pay  to  the  State  Treasurer, 
every  year,  on  State  bonds  thereafter  to  be  issued,  one  and 
one  quarter  of  one  per  cent.  (1J)  on  each  80  year  bond,  and 
two  and  one-half  per  cent.  (2  J)  on  each  20  year  bond,  sold  or 


Xll  HISTORICAL  MEMOIR. 

hypothecated.  The  Treasurer  of  the  State  and  the  Treasurer 
of  each  Railroad  Company  for  the  time  being,  were  made  Com- 
missioners of  the  Sinking  Fund  thus  created,  and  each  Com- 
pany was  required  to  pay  to  the  State  Treasurer  the  semi- 
annual interest  on  the  bonds  issued  to  them  thirty  days  before 
the  coupons  should  fall  due.  The  State  Treasurer  was  re- 
quired to  select  one  place  in  the  city  of  New  York  for  the  pay- 
ment of  the  interest  on  all  the  bonds  issued  by  the  State,  and 
to  give  public  notice  thereof  thirty  days  in  advance.  This  was 
a  good  provision  and  is  calculated  to  consolidate  and  strengthen 
the  public  credit,  while  it  places  the  State  upon  its  proper  dig- 
nity in  guarding  its  own  honor.  So  long  as  the  Companies 
continue  to  provide  the  means  to  pay  the  interest  themselves, 
as  they  are  required  to  do,  the  State  Interest  Fund  and  the 
Sinking  Fund  will  accumulate,  and  suitable  provisions  are 
made  for  the  safe  and  productive  investment  of  the  funds  in 
securities  readily  convertible.  Thus  with  the  lapse  of  each 
year,  with  the  increasing  value  of  the  railroads  and  their  earn- 
ings, with  the  enhancement  in  the  worth  of  the  railroad  lands, 
with  the  gradual  accumulations  of  the  Sinking  Funds,  and  with 
the  constant  and  steady  increase  of  the  public  wealth,  THE  PUBLIC 
CREDIT  OF  MISSOURI,  not  now  to  be  much  more  extended  by  the 
constitution,  will  be  firmly  established  beyond  all  contingency. 

James  H.  Lucas,  Esq.,  was  elected  President  of  the  Pacific 
Railroad  Company  in  March,  1856,  but  resigned  about  a  month 
afterwards,  when  William  M.  McPherson,  Esq.,  was  elected 
President  in  his  place,  and  Mr.  Edward  Miller  soon  after  was 
made  Chief  Engineer.  Mr.  McPherson  continued  to  serve  as 
President  until  March,  1858,  when  Hon.  John  M.  Wimer  was 
elected  in  his  place. 

By  an  act  approved  March  3,  1857,  the  State  agreed  to  guar- 
anty the  bonds  of  the  Pacific  Railroad  Company,  issued  as 
authorized  by  the  act  of  Dec.  10,  1855,  upon  a  mortgage  of 
lands  on  the  South-west  branch  in  sums  of  $100,000  each,  to 
an  amount  not  exceeding  $4,500,000— the  first  $100,000  to  be 
issued  upon  evidence  of  a  like  amount  of  expenditure  on  that 
branch  by  the  Company  derived  from  sources  other  than  guar- 
antied bonds,  but  the  subsequent  amounts  were  to  be  issued  as 
fast  as  each  given  sum  was  expended.  The  Governor  was  also 


HISTORICAL   MEMOIR.  Xlll 

authorized  to  make  such  guaranties  in  larger  amounts  than 
$100,000  at  a  time,  if  expedient,  and  place  them  for  sale  in  the 
hands  of  an  agent  to  be  appointed  by  him,  &c.  The  Company 
was  required  to  complete  the  South-west  branch  in  four  years, 
pay  the  interest,  and  hold  the  State  harmless  from  her  guaranty, 
or  forfeit  the  branch  road,  lands  and  franchises.  The  same 
act  further  provided,  that  whenever  the  Pacific  Railroad  Com- 
pany had  expended  $500,000  west  of  Jefferson  City,  the  Gov- 
ernor of  the  State  should  issue  to  them  $1,000,000,  part  of  the 
three  millions  granted  by  the  act  of  Dec.  10,  1855,  but  not 
issued  ;  and  also  granted  a  further  loan  of  $300,000  of  the  same 
three  million  loan,  to  be  based  upon  a  showing  of  half  that  sum 
expended  from  stock  subscriptions  west  of  Jefferson  City. 
And  the  act  also  granted  the  same  Company  a  further  loan  of 
$1,000,000,  to  be  issued  in  sums  of  $100,000,  and  the  appli- 
cations for  them  to  be  based  upon  proof  of  additional  expendi- 
ture of  half  the  amount  derived  from  sources  other  than  State 
bonds,  and  not  included  in  any  previous  statement,  and  show- 
ing also  that  the  proceeds  of  all  the  bonds  issued  under  the  act 
of  1855  had  been  expended  in  the  construction  of  the  road;  and 
the  statement  of  expenditure  to  be  exclusive  of  interest,  dis- 
count and  commissions.  These  laws  also  provided,  that  the 
work  should  progress  continuously  west  so  as  to  leave  no  part 
unfinished  beyond  the  reach  of  the  means  of  the  Company. 
The  act  also  postponed  the  payments  into  the  Sinking  Fund, 
required  by  the  act  of  1855,  until  January  1st,  1859,  when  said 
payments  are  to  commence  and  be  made  as  before  required, 
and  within  two  years  from  that  time  the  Companies  are  to 
make  full  payment  of  all  sums  thus  postponed.  It  was  the 
same  act  of  March  3,  1857,  which  required  the  State  Geologist 
to  make  a  thorough  survey  along  the  lines  of  all  railroads 
aided  by  the  State,  and  to  report  in  detail,  to  the  President  and 
Directors,  "  all  the  mineral,  agricultural  and  other  resources 
which  may  affect  the  value  or  income  of  the  road  under  their 
direction." 

By  a  proposed  amendment  to  the  constitution,  which  passed 
the  Legislature  by  an  almost  unanimous  vote,  and  approved 
March  4,  1857,  the  State  debt  is  limited  "  to  never  exceed  the 
sum  of  thirty  millions  of  dollars."  This  will  become  a  part  of 


xiv  HISTORICAL  MEMOIR. 

the  constitution  when  passed  upon  again  by  the  present  Legis- 
lature. As  affecting  also  the  value  of  State  bonds,  as  well  as  City 
and  County  bonds  issued  to  railroads,  and  Railroad  bonds  also, 
all  are  exempted  from  taxation  by  the  act  of  March  4,  1857. 
And,  again,  the  Banks,  under  the  act  of  1857,  are  required  to 
invest  ten  per  cent,  of  their  paid-in  capital  and  two  per  cent, 
per  annum  of  their  nett  profits  in  State  bonds  ;  and  moreover, 
each  Bank  is  required  to  pay  for  their  privileges,  annually,  one 
per  cent,  on  the  amount  of  their  paid-up  capital,  to  the  State, 
which  is  to  go  to  the  credit  of  the  "  State  Interest  Fund" — thus 
materially  strengthening  the  credit  of  the  bonds. 

In  consequence  of  the  panic  in  the  money  market,  the  State 
bonds  of  Missouri,  like  many  others,  touched  a  low  point  in  the 
fall  of  1857,  and  many  of  the  holders  felt  much  alarmed.  But,  as 
was  predicted  by  those  best  acquainted  with  the  resources  of 
Missouri,  the  Legislature  met  the  crisis  with  a  determined  ener- 
gy which  inspired  new  confidence.  The  act  of  November  19, 
1857,  suspended  the  further  issue  and  guarantee  of  bonds  until 
March  1,  1859,  with  some  exceptions ;  and  among  them 
$400,000  were  permitted  to  be  issued  to  the  Pacific  Railroad 
to  finish  to  Round  Hill,  and  1200,000  to  carry  the  South-west 
branch  to  Moseley's.  But  it  was  agreed  that  whenever  State 
bonds  could  be  sold  for  90  cents  on  the  dollar,  the  Governor 
might  issue  $500,000  for  the  South-west  branch,  and  receive  in 
exchange  the  same  amount  of  guarantied  bonds,  and  to  deposit 
with  the  State  Treasurer  a  like  amount  of  seven  per  cent.  Rail- 
road mortgage  bonds  as  collateral  security ;  and  as  the  latter 
bore  seven  per  cent,  interest  and  the  former  six,  the  Company 
were  required  to  pay  the  difference  (one  per  cent.)  into  the 
State  Interest  Fund,  on  the  bonds  so  exchanged.  The  Pacific 
Railroad  was  also  required  to  deliver  up  all  guarantied  bonds ; 
and  a  like  amount  of  State  bonds,  running  20  years,  and  bear- 
ing six  per  cent,  interest,  were  ordered  to  be  issued  and  deliv- 
ered to  them.  It  was  a  singular  fact  that  while  State  bonds 
sold  readily,  mortgage  bonds,  guarantied  by  the  State,  could 
not  be  sold.  The  act  also  authorized  a  special  tax  of  one-tenth 
of  one  percent,  on  the  $100,  to  be  levied  upon  all  taxable  prop- 
erty in  the  State,  commencing  in  1859,  to  be  paid  into  the 
State  Interest  Fund  ;  and  also  provided,  that  the  per  cent. 


HISTORICAL   MEMOIR.  XV 

due  from  the  United  States  to  the  State  of  Missouri,  on  account 
of  the  public  land  sales  in  the  State,  under  the  act  of  Congress 
of  March  6, 1820,  and  of  March  3,  1857,  when  received,  should 
also  be  placed  in  the  "  State  Interest  Fund." 

The  Board  of  Public  Works  were  required  to  attend  all  the 
meetings  of  the  Boards  of  Directors,  and  watch  their  proceed- 
ings. And  in  order  to  provide  further  for  the  certain  and 
prompt  payment  of  the  interest  on  any  State  bond  which  may 
be  unprovided  for,  the  Commissioners  of  the  State  Interest 
Fund,  thirty  days  before  the  interest  is  due,  shall  temporarily 
take  out  of  any  funds  in  the  public  treasury,  except  the  School 
Fund,  the  Road  and  Canal  Fund,  and  the  Internal  Improve- 
ment Fund,  sufficient  to  pay  such  interest ;  and  in  case  there 
is  not  sufficient  to  pay  such  interest,  then  the  Governor  is  au- 
thorized to  issue  "  Revenue  Bonds,"  payable  two  years  after 
date,  with  any  rate  of  interest  not  exceeding  ten  per  cent.,  and 
hand  them  to  the  Commissioners,  to  sell  or  hypothecate  for  a 
loan  in  anticipation  of  the  moneys  due  to  the  Interest  Fund. 
And  in  case  the  moneys  provided  by  the  act  are  not  needed  to 
pay  accruing  interest,  then  they  are  to  be  invested,  and  the 
interest  on  the  investment  added  to  the  fund,  and  the  fund  is 
declared  sacred  and  inviolable  until  the  principal  and  interest 
of  all  the  State  bonds  are  fully  paid.  Thus  full  and  ample 
provision  has  been  made  by  the  Legislature  to  meet,  at  all 
times,  the  accruing  interest  on  the  State  bonds  of  Missouri. 

These  facts  are  important  as  bearing  upon  the  future  of  the 
Pacific  Railroad  in  completing  the  line  to  Kansas,  and  the  South- 
western branch. 

The  main,  or  Kansas  line  of  the  Pacific  Railroad,  was  open- 
ed to  Jefferson  City  (125  miles  from  St.  Louis),  about  the  1st 
of  March,  1856,  and  is  well  constructed  and  well  stocked.  Its 
business  between  that  point,  which  is  the  State  capital,  and  St. 
Louis,  has  exceeded  the  expectations  and  estimates  of  all.  That 
line  was  opened  to  the  town  of  California,  25  miles  further,  on 
May  4th,  1858,  and  to  Tipton,  12f  miles  still  further  west, 
being  162f  miles  from  St.  Louis,  July  25th,  1858.  The  amount 
expended  upon  that  line  to  Dec.  1,  1858,  has  been  about 


Xvi  HISTORICAL  MEMOIR. 

$10,033,823,  and  for  its  construction  86,780,000  of  State  bonds 
have  been  issued  to  the  Company. 

The  annual  interest  on  these  bonds  is  about         ...        $406,800  00 
The  gross  earnings  of  the  road  for  the  last  twelve  months  were, 

From  Freights, $296,580  70 

"      Passengers, 320,791  44 

"      Mails,  &c., 19,139  60 


Total, •          $636,511  74 

Upon  the  South-west  branch  about  19  miles  of  track  are  laid, 
and  the  next  60  miles  can  be  completed  in  1859.  The  iron 
for  this  distance  is  already  contracted  for  at  the  Cambria 
Works  in  Pennsylvania. 

The  amount  expended  in  construction  upon  the  South-west 
branch,  beyond  Franklin,  to  Dec.  1st,  1858,  is  11,442,710. 

The  amount  of  bonds  issued  for  that  branch  to  Dec.  1st,  is 
$1,268,000  of  State  6  per  cents.,  and  $132,000  guarantied  7 
per  cents. 

The  total  length  of  the  main  line  of  the  Pacific  Railroad,  as 
now  definitely  located  from  St.  Louis  to  Kansas,  is  282  miles. 

The  length  of  the  South-west  branch  is  283  miles. 

The  total  amount  of  State  bonds  issued  to  all  Railroads  is 
$19,056,000. 

The  total  amount  granted  is  $24,950,000,  of  which 
$5,894,000  are  not  yet  issued. 

The  following  statement  of  the  issue  and  distribution  of  these 
bonds  is  believed  to  be  correct : 

Names  of  Roads.  Received.  Remaining.  Total. 

Main  Line  Pacific  Railroad $6,780,000  $220,000  $7,000,000 

South-west  Branch  do.  1,400,000  3,100,000  4,500,000 

North  Missouri  do.  4,350,000  1,150,000  5,500,000 

Iron  Mountain  do.  3,276,000  324,000  3,600,000 

Hannibal  and  St.  Jo.  do.  3,000,000                3,000,000 

Cairo  and  Fulton  do.  250,000  400,000  650,000 

Platte  County  do.                   700,000  700,000 


Total $19,056,000  $5,894,000  $24,950,000 


HISTORICAL   MEMOIR.  XV11 

The  security  of  the  State,  being  the  first  lien,  is  based  not 
only  upon  the  Roads  themselves  and  their  appurtenances,  upon 
which  large  amounts  of  private  capital  have  been  expended, 
amounting  in  the  case  of  the  Pacific  Main  Line  alone  to 
$3,254,582,  but  also  upon  large  grants  of  land,  amounting  to 
over  two  millions  of  acres,  of  which  the  fee  simple  title  has 
absolutely  passed  by  act  of  Congress  and  the  decision  of  the 
General  Land  Office. 


INTRODUCTION. 

Hon.  JOHN  M.  WIMER, 

President  of  the  Pacific  Railroad  Company. 

Sir : — In  conformity  to  a  law  requiring  me  to  make  geolog- 
ical surveys  along  the  lines  of  all  the  Railroads  aided  by  the 
State,  the  country  along  the  South- Western  Branch  of  the 
Pacific  Railroad,  in  which  the  lands  of  your  company  are  lo- 
cated, have  been  examined  with  sufficient  care  to  enable  me  to 
speak  with  certainty  as  to  the  general  character  of  the  country, 
the  climate,  soils,  minerals,  timber,  and  water  power.  In  this 
survey  we  have  extended  our  examinations  over  the  counties  of 
St.  Louis,  Jefferson,  Franklin,  Gasconade,  Crawford,  Phelps, 
Maries,  Pulaski,  La  Cledc,  Webster,  Green,  Lawrence,  Newton, 
and  a  part  of  Jasper,  McDonald,  Polk,  Stone,  Barry,  Taney, 
Dallas,  Washington  and  Wright  —  in  all,  an  area  of  some 
13,000  square  miles. 

In  the  time,  and  with  the  means  allotted  us  for  this  work,  it 
could  not  be  expected  that  we  would  be  able  to  speak  with  cer- 
tainty of  each  section  or  even  township  in  so  wide  an  area ;  but 
by  availing  myself  of  the  examinations  previously  made  in  por- 
tions of  this  region,  and  by  so  arranging  the  operations  of  the 
geological  corps  as  to  render  the  labors  of  each  directly  or  in- 
directly available  in  this  report,  without  materially  retarding 
the  progress  of  the  State  survey,  we  have  been  enabled  to 
collect  data  sufficient  to  give  a  very  correct  view  of  the  topo- 
graphical, geological,  mineral  and  agricultural  features  of  the 
country  under  consideration. 

I  am  indebted  to  Dr.  Shumard  for  reports  upon  St.  Louis, 
Jefferson,  Franklin,  Crawford,  La  Clede  and  Pulaski  counties  ; 
to  Dr.  Litton  for  many  valuable  analyses  of  soils  and  minerals, 
and  reports  on  numerous  mines ;  to  Mr.  Price  for  the  sketches 
of  Granby  and  the  Bluffs  of  the  Niangua,  for  much  valuable 
1 


2  INTRODUCTION. 

assistance  in  the  field  and  in  making  up  this  report ;  and  to  Mr. 
Broadhead  for  a  report  on  Maries  county,  for  assistance  in  the 
field,  in  making  up  this  report,  and  in  preparing  the  accom- 
panying section  and  map. 

Mr.  J.  L.  P.  W.  Fitzgerald,  of  Granby ;  Judge  W.  C.  Price, 
Mr.  J.  A.  Stephens,  and  Mr.  Chas.  Carlton,  of  Springfield  ;  Mr. 
C.  D.  Bray,  N.  A.  Davis,  M.D.,  Mr.  W.  C.  Smart,  and  Mr.  L. 
P.  Ayers,  of  Green  county ;  Mr.  C.  L.  Dickernian,  Mr.  D.  G. 
Morrow,  Mr.  McCraw,  Joel  Hall,  Esq.,  Mr.  J.  G.  McFadden, 
Mr.  Casswell  Roberts,  and  Mr.  Harvey  Burkhart,  of  Taney  ; 
Hon.  H.  T.  Blow,  Mr.  J.  F.  Darby,  Mr.  T.  C.  Johnson,  and 
Mr.  S.  M.  Colman,  of  St.  Louis  ;  Mr.  Wm.  C.  Best,  of  Maries  ; 
Mr.  Isaac  N.  Young,  of  Franklin  ;  Pleasant  Johnson,  Esq.,  and 
John  S.  Reding,  Esq.,  of  Newton  county;  C.  A.  Edmands,  of 
Washington  ;  and  Henry  H.  Fox,  of  McDonald,  have  rendered 
very  important  aid  in  our  explorations  and  in  collecting  the 
statistics  for  our  reports. 

The  large  amount  of  material  thus  collected,  has  been  care- 
fully digested,  and  the  most  important  results,  such  as  are 
deemed  entirely  reliable,  have  been  condensed  into  the  follow- 
ing report.  This  report  is  submitted  with  a  painful  sense  of  its 
imperfections,  and  how  far  it  comes  short  of  fully  representing 
the  very  extensive,  interesting,  and  rich  region  upon  which  it 
is  made.  Still  it  is  hoped  we  have  presented  such  an  amount 
of  information  as  will  very  conclusively  indicate  the  vast  agri- 
cultural, mineral  and  manufacturing  resources  of  that  beautiful 
and  favored  country. 

Wishing  you  eminent  success  in  your  able  efforts  to  hasten 
the  completion  of  the  South-Western  Branch, 
I  remain,  very  respectfully, 

Your  Ob't  Servant, 

G.  .0.  SWALLOW, 

State  Geologist. 

GEOLOGICAL  BOOMS,  STATE  UNIVERSITY, 
Columbia,  Mo.,  June  2d,  1858. 


GEOLOGICAL  EBPORT 

OP  THE  COUNTRY  ALONG  THE  PACIFIC  RAILROAD  AND  THE  SOUTH- 
WESTERN BRANCH,  FROM  ST.  LOUIS  TO  THE  WESTERN  BOUNDARY 
OF  THE  STATE,  IN  NEWTON  COUNTY. 


IT  has  been  our  object,  in  making  this  survey,  to  examine 
into  all  the  available  resources  of  this  part  of  the  State,  and 
especially  those  designed  to  furnish  a  people  with  sustenance 
and  wealth,  and  provide  a  surplus  for  trade  and  exportation  ; 
as  a  dense  and  wealthy  population,  and  a  surplus  of  produc- 
tions, are  the  real  elements  of  Railroad  profits  as  well  as  national 
power  and  progress. 

TOPOGRAPHY. 

That  portion  of  Southern  Missouri  extending  from  Newton 
county  in  the  south-west,  to  Ste.  Genevieve  in  the  south-east, 
usually  represented  as  the  eastern  extremity  of  the  Ozark 
Mountains,  is,  in  fact,  a  table  land  varying  from  1,000  to  1,500 
feet  above  the  ocean.  In  the  west  it  is  sufficiently  undulating 
to  be  well  drained,  while  in  the  south  and  east  it  sometimes 
rises  into  ridges  and  knobs  of  moderate  elevation. 

From  this  table  land,  the  country  descends  by  moderate 
slopes  in  every  direction.  On  the  northern  slope  are  the  head 
waters  of  the  Sac,  Pomme  de  Tcrre,  Niangua  and  Gasconade, 
flowing  into  the  Missouri ;  on  the  east,  the  Meramec  and  the 
Big,  flowing  into  the  Mississippi ;  on  the  south,  the  waters  of 
the  St.  Francois,  the  Current,  and  the  White  and  its  tributaries, 
descending  towards  Arkansas  ;  and  Spring  River  and  Shoal 
Creek,  on  the  western  slope. 

The  valleys  of  the  numerous  streams  which  flow  from  this 
table  land  are  at  first  but  little  depressed  below  the  general 
level ;  but  the  farther  they  descend,  the  deeper  and  wider  they 
become,  until  they  expand  into  broad  alluvial  bottoms  bounded 
by  bluffs  more  or  less  precipitous. 


4  GEOLOGICAL  EEPORT. 

This  table  land  presents  a  surface  sufficiently  undulating 
to  be  well  drained,  and  still  level  enough  for  argricultural 
purposes. 

The  South- Western  Branch  from  Franklin,  rises  gradually 
onto  the  north-eastern  slope  of  this  table  land,  up  the  divide  be- 
tween the  waters  of  the  Bourbeuse  and  the  Meramec,  until  it 
reaches  an  elevation  of  780  feet  above  St.  Louis,  before  crossing 
the  valley  of  the  Gasconade.  Beyond  this  valley  it  rises  again 
to  the  most  elevated  part  of  the  line  in  Webster  county.  Thence 
through  to  Green,  Lawrence  and  Newton,  it  descends  the  gentle 
western  slope  to  the  State  boundary,  where  the  road  will  be 
440  feet  above  the  St.  Louis  Register,*  and  the  highest  point  on 
the  line  of  the  road  at  Marshfield  is  1092  feet  above  the  Reg- 
ister, and  about  1500  above  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  At  Buck 
prairie  it  is  1020  feet  above  the  Register,  and  780  at  Little 
prairie,  east  of  the  Gasconade. 

CLIMATE. 

This  table  land,  as  above  stated,  has  an  elevation  of  some 
twelve  or  fifteen  hundred  feet  above  the  ocean.  It  has  a  rolling 
surface,  and  gentle  slopes  of  some  four  or  five  feet  to  the  mile, 
towards  the  valleys  of  the  Osage,  the  Mississippi,  the  Arkansas, 
and  the  Neosho  or  Grand  river,  and  no  high  mountains  or  arid 
plains  to  disturb  the  equable  and  agreeable  temperature,  which 
usually  prevails  at  this  altitude,  under  the  thirty-seventh  par- 
allel of  north  latitude.  There  are  no  swamp  or  overflowed 
lands  from  which  noxious  exhalations  can  arise  to  affect  any 
considerable  portion  of  this  country. 

The  climate,  as  these  facts  indicate  and  our  meteorological 
observations  clearly  prove,  is  most  agreeable  and  salubrious  ;f 
the  summers  are  long,  temperate  and  dry,  the  winters  short 
and  mild.  No  climate,  in  short,  is  better  fitted  to  secure  health 
and  a  luxurious  growth  of  the  staple  products  of  the  temperate 
zone. 


*  This  Register  is  about  400  feet  above  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 
t  The  Census  Report  of  1850  shows  this    to   be   one  of  the  most  healthy 
regions  in  the  United  States. 


GEOLOGICAL  REPORT.  5 

GEOLOGY. 

It  is  not  deemed  expedient,  in  this  report,  to  enter  into  a  de- 
tailed description  of  the  rocks  in  the  region  under  considera- 
tion, as  that  has  been  done  in  the  Second  Annual  Report  of  our 
Survey,  where  any  one  desiring  it  can  find  a  full  exposition  of 
these  rocks,  their  classification,  and  catalogues  of  the  fossils 
upon  which  that  classification  was  based.  In  this  connection, 
therefore,  we  shall  merely  mention  the  extent  of  each  forma- 
tion, its  economical  relations,  and  whatever  may  appear  pecu- 
liar in  the  localities  observed. 

QUATERNARY     SYSTEM. 

All  of  the  deposits  of  sand,  clay,  marl  and  humus  in  the 
bottoms  of  the  streams,  together  with  the  clays  and  marls 
spread  over  the  consolidated  strata  on  the  high  lands,  belong  to 
the  Quaternary  period.  These  deposits  cover  the  entire  region, 
and  are  particularly  important,  as  they  furnish  a  large  part  of 
all  the  mineral  ingredients  that  enter  into  the  composition  of 
the  soils  which  rest  upon  them. 

The  Alluvial  Formation,  in  the  bottoms,  is  made  up  of  clays, 
sands,  marls  and  humus,  more  or  less  commingled.  The  char- 
acter of  these  materials  explains  the  wonderful  fertility  of  the 
soils  resting  upon  them. 

The  Bluff  Formation  consists  of  impure  clays  and  marls,  and 
is  best  developed  on  the  eastern  end  of  the  line,  particularly  in 
St.  Louis  county,  where  it  covers  the  high  country  and  forms 
the  basis  of  the  soils.  On  the  central  and  western  portions,  the 
superficial  deposits  are  more  argillaceous  and  sparingly  devel- 
oped, often  leaving  the  underlying  rocks  to  exert  their  due  in- 
fluence iipon  the  soil.  The  Quaternary  is  represented  on  the 
map  by  the  carmine  color. 

CARBONIFEROUS     SYSTEM. 

The  Coal  Measures  underlie  about  160  square  miles  in  St. 
Louis  county,  a  portion  of  St.  Charles,  and  some  small  patches 
in  Crawford,  Phelps  and  Newton.  It  is  represented  by  the. 
purple  color  in  the  accompanying  geological  map.  This  forma- 
tion in  St.  Louis  county  contains  three  beds  of  coal ;  one  of 


6  GEOLOGICAL  REPORT. 

hydraulic  limestone  and  one  or  more  of  good  fire-clay.     The 
Coal  Measures  are  represented  on  the  map  by  the  purple. 

The  Mountain  Limestone  underlies  nearly  all  of  Newton, 
Lawrence  and  Green,  the  southern  part  of  Jasper,  the  north  of 
McDonald,  Barry  and  Stone,  the  south-west  of  Webster,  and 
portions  of  St.  Louis,  Jefferson  and  St.  Charles,  and  occupies 
an  area  of  more  than  3,000  square  miles.  The  St.  Louis,  the 
Archimedes,  and  the  Encrinital  Limestones  are  developed  in 
the  East,  the  Ferruginous  Sandstone,  the  Archimedes  and  En- 
crinital *  Limestones  in  the  West. 

The  Mountain  Limestone  contains  the  numerous  and  exten- 
sive deposits  of  lead  and  zinc  in  Jasper  and  Newton ;  the  ex- 
tensive beds  of  iron  in  Green  and  Lawrence ;  the  marbles  of  St. 
Louis,  and  an  abundance  of  good  building  stones  in  all  the 
counties  above  named.  It  also  exerts  a  good  influence  upon 
the  soils,  rendering  them  productive  and  durable. 

It  is  represented  on  the  map  by  the  blue. 

CHEMUNG    GROUP. 

This  division  is  sparingly  developed  in  St.  Louis,  Webster, 
Green,  Taney,  Stone,  Lawrence,  Newton  and  McDonald.  Al- 
though this  formation  is  very  thin,  its  three  divisions  are  well 
defined  in  some  parts  of  the  West,  where  the  denudation  of  the 
middle  clay  beds  lias  formed  the  mounds  so  conspicuous  in  the 
prairies  of  that  part  of  the  State. 

These  sandy  clays  often  exert  an  injurious  influence  upon 
the  soil.  No  valuable  minerals  have  been  found  in  these  rocks, 
save  some  copper  in  the  beds  of  transition  between  them  and 
the  Encrinital  Limestone  in  Lawrence  county.  It  occupies  an 
area  of  some  160  square  miles,  and  is  represented  by  green  on 
the  map. 

*   Tliis  formation  presents  some  peculiar  features  in  Lawrence  county      Its 
lower  part  is  there  made  up  of  heavy  beds  of  whitish,  porous  quartz  rock,  as 
indicated  by  the  following  section  on  the  Turnback: — 
No.  1 — 5  feet  of  Ferruginous  Sandstone. 

"    2 — 30  feet  Encrinital  Limestone,  with  its  usual  characters. 

"    3 — 70  feet  of  brownish  gray,  porous  and  hard  silicious  rock  or  quartzite. 

"    4 — 5  feet  of  soft  brown  impure  Sandstone,  with  masses  of  calcareous  spar. 

"    5 — 10  feet  of  coarse,  impure  crystalline  Limestone  ;  contains  Spiriftr  Mario- 
nensis — Chemung. 

"    6—20  feet  of  silicious  rock  like  No.  3. 


GEOLOGICAL   REPORT. 


LOWER    SILURIAN. 

The  Trenton  Limestone  underlies  a  portion  of  St.  Louis, 
Franklin  and  Jefferson  counties.  No  valuable  ores  have  as  yet 
been  discovered  in  this  formation.  It  furnishes  good  lime- 
stones and  marbles  for  building  and  ornamental  purposes.  The 
soils  formed  from  it  are  calcareous  and  durable. 

The  Magnesian  Limestone  Series  *  occupies  a  large  part  of 
Jefferson,  Franklin,  and  Webster,  and  nearly  or  quite  all  of 
Gasconade,  Crawford,  Washington,  Maries,  Phelps,  Pulaski, 
La  Clede,  Wright,  and  Dallas — an  area  of  nearly  6,000  square 
miles  within  the  limits  of  the  Railroad  lands. 

This  series  of  ancient  deposits  is  made  up  of  magnesian  lime- 
stones, sandstones  and  intercalated  beds  of  chert  or  impure 
flint.  These  rocks  contain  the  best  building  material  in  the 
State.  Some  of  the  limestones  are  not  surpassed  in  beauty  and 
durability.  Many  of  them  will  furnish  inexhaustible  supplies 
of  beautiful,  variegated  marbles.  A  few  of  the  sandy  beds  are 
excellent  free  stone  well  adapted  to  architectural  purposes ; 
while  others  will  afford  any  desirable  quantity  of  pure  white 
sand  for  cements  and  glass  manufactures. 

These  rocks  usually  exert  a  good  influence  upon  the  soil ; 
but  there  are  exceptions.  Some  of  the  magnesian  limestones 
decompose  so  rapidly,  and  supply  the  soil  with  so  large  a  por- 
tion of  magnesia  as  to  impair  its  fertility ;  as  is  evident  in  many 
of  the  glades  on  the  ridges  and  slopes,  where  they  come  to  the 
surface.  In  a  few  localities  the  sandstones  render  the  soil  too 
arenaceous,  while  in  other  places  the  fragments  of  chert  are  so 
abundant  as  to  prevent  its  use  for  ordinary  cultivation.  It 
should  be  borne  in  mind,  however,  that  these  apparent  defects, 
when  not  in  very  great  excess,  give  the  soil  a  peculiar  adapta- 
tion to  one  of  the  most  important  departments  of  husbandry, 
the  culture  of  the  grape.  And  the  time  is  not  far  distant  when 


*  The  upper  part  of  this  series  belongs  unequivocally  to  the  age  of  the  Cal- 
ciferous  Sandrock;  but  since  our  Second  Annual  Report  was  published,  the 
evidence  that  the  lower  beds  are  Potsdam  Sandstone  has  been  increased  by  the 
discovery  of  the  Lingula  antiqua  of  Hall,  by  Mr.  Broadhead,  in  Moniteau  county 


8  GEOLOGICAL  REPORT. 

the  " poor  flint  ridges  "  and  terraced  slopes  *  of  Southern  Mis- 
souri, will  be  more  valuable  for  vineyards  than  the  best  lands  of 
the  State  for  the  other  departments  of  agriculture. 

This  is,  emphatically,  the  mineral  bearing'  rock  of  Missouri. 
It  contains  the  larger  part  of  all  the  lead,  zinc,  copper,  cobalt, 
and  nickel,  and  a  considerable  portion  of  the  iron  discovered  in 
the  State.  Some  or  all  of  these  ores  abound  wherever  these 
rocks  have  been  explored  within  the  limits  of  the  State. 

When  it  is  borne  in  mind,  that  they  occupy  an  area  of  some 
10,000  square  miles  in  the  counties  containing  Railroad  lands, 
we  shall  be  less  surprised  at  the  long  catalogue  of  mineral  lo- 
calities in  those  counties  already  known  and  be  better  prepared 
to  expect  still  other  discoveries  of  equal  importance. 

The  Lower  Silurian  Strata  are  represented  by  yellow  on  the 
accompanying  geological  map. 

IGNEOUS     ROCKS. 

There  are  but  few  unimportant  representations  of  this  divi- 
sion in  the  region  under  consideration.  At  one  locality  in  La- 
clede,  and  one  or  two  in  Crawford,  granite  dykes,  or  ridges,  rise 
above  the  stratified  rocks. 

SOIL. 

The  soils  of  this  region,  are  as  diversified  and  varied  as  the 
topographical  and  geological  features,  already  disclosed,  would 
indicate.  The  wide  diffusion  of  the  rich  silicious  marls  of  the 
Bluff  formation,  particularly  in  the  eastern  and  western  coun- 
ties, is  a  sufficient  proof  of  the  value  of  the  soils  found  upon  it. 

It  is  well  known  that  a  part  of  St.  Louis  and  the  adjoining 
counties  possess  a  very  superior  soil.  It  may  not  be  as  well 
known,  though  equally  true,  that  portions  of  Newton,  Green, 
Lawrence,  and  the  adjoining  counties,  have  a  soil  equally  good. 
It  is  also  true,  contrary  to  the  opinions  of  some,  that  the  central 
counties  on  the  line  of  this  road,  have  large  areas  of  most  ex- 
cellent land. 


*  See  Plate  vm. 


GEOLOGICAL   REPORT. 

Almost  every  acre  of  the  alluvial  bottoms  throughout  this 
entire  region,  has  a  rich,  durable  soil,  which  is  usually  well 
adapted  to  the  culture  of  corn,  wheat,  tobacco,  oats,  and  the 
grasses  ;  some  would  yield  good  hemp.  Where  the  silicious 
marls  of  the  Bluff  are  well  developed,  the  upland  soils  are  rich, 
fertile  and  durable.  This  variety  of  soil  prevails  in  all  the  best 
upland  011  the  line  of  the  road,  particularly  in  the  eastern  and 
western  extremities.  In  Oliver's  prairie,  Pool's  prairie,  and  Sar- 
coxie  prairie,  in  Newton ;  Grand  and  Kickapoo  prairies,  in  Green ; 
Pleasant  prairie,  in  Webster ;  Dimond  prairie,  in  Jasper  ;  and 
Ozark  prairie,  in  Lawrence,  the  soil  is  excellent.  It  possesses 
the  same  good  qualities  in  some  of  the  timbered  portions  of  all 
the  counties  above  named ;  but  St.  Louis  county  has  much  the 
largest  proportion,  as  indicated  by  the  superior  soils  in  the  val- 
ley west  of  the  city  and  in  the  Florisant. 

There  is  a  soil  somewhat  inferior  to  the  preceding,  which 
covers  large  areas  in  the  region  under  consideration.  It  also 
rests  upon  the  marls  of  the  Bluff  where  that  formation  is  some- 
what clayey  and  where  it  has  been  injured  by  washing.  This 
variety  is  found  on  the  ridges  and  undulating  portions  of  the 
country,  where  the  white,  post  and  black  oaks,  and  summer 
grapes  abound,  and  white  hickory,  dwarf  sumac,  and  hazle  are 
less  prevalent.  This  same  soil  also  occupies  the  prairies,  which 
are  somewhat  inferior  to  those  mentioned  above. 

The  following  analyses  show  the  qualities  of  this  variety  of 
soil: 


10 


GEOLOGICAL  REPORT. 


Analyses  of  Soil  from  the  Bluffs  of  Boone   County ', 


BY   DR.   LITTON. 


No.  12  A* 

No.  12  C* 

No.  12  B* 

0-4105 

0-8030 

0-6558 

Organic  matter  &  water  not  expelled  at  150°C 
Silica,  etc.,  insoluble  in  Hydrochloric  acid  •  • 

3-0957 
90-1420 
0-1384 

3-8901 
85-0571 

0-2187 

2-6049 
90-8063 
0-1475 

3-0654 

4-7672 

2-9346 

2-0553 

3-8814 

2-0590 

a  trace 

a  trace 

a,  trace 

0-2086 

0-4722 

0-1242 

0  •  3423 

0-6581 

0  •  9048 

Q  .3368 

0-3895 

0-2121 

0  •  1828 

0  •  1220 

0-2925 

O.flr>60 

O.O'Vtfi 

0.034fi 

0-0035 

O.OOQQ 

0-0508 

0-0000 

0  •  0276 

0  •  0000 

Tntal  .  . 

100.0373 

100  3  ^94. 

1  00  1  31  1 

This  soil  covers  several  thousand  square  miles  in  the  coun- 
ties comprised  in  this  survey.  It  is  the  very  best  soil  for  wheat, 
and  rye,  in  the  State.  It  is  well  adapted  to  corn,  tobacco,  oats, 
and  grasses ;  and  is  very  much  improved  by  deep  cultivation, 
as  the  above  analyses  show  the  richest  portions  to  be  ten  or 
twelve  inches  below  the  surface.  The  vineyards  of  Booiiville, 
Hermann,  and  Hamburg,  are  on  soils  similar  to  this  ;  and  it  pro- 
duces most  excellent  wild  grapes. 

But  the  soils  derived  from  the  magnesian  limestone  series, 
cover  the  largest  portion  of  this  region.  The  sand,  lime,  mag- 
nesia and  alumina,  derived  from  the  decomposition  of  these 
rocks,  together  with  the  abundance  of  vegetable  matter  from 
the  decfay  of  the  rank  vegetation,  and  the  alkalies  from  the 
fires  which  annually  overrun  this  country,  combine  to  form  a 
soil  light)  dry,  warm,  and  rich  in  potash,  soda,  lime,  magnesia, 
and  all  the  other  ingredients  needed  to  render  it  fertile  and 

*  No.  12  A  was  collected  from  2  to  6  inches  below  the  surface ;  No.  12  B, 
from  10  to  12,  and  No.  12  C,  from  18  to  20  inches  below  the  surface,  on  a  high 
ridge  covered  with  white,  post  and  black  oak,  white  hickory,  dwarf  sumac, 
hazle  and  summer  grapes. 


GEOLOGICAL   REPORT.  11 

suitable  in  an  eminent  degree  for  many  of  onr  staple  crops, 
and  especially  for 


Notwithstanding  the  true  principles  of  grape  culture  are  so 
little  understood  by  the  community  at  large,  no  department  of 
agriculture  has  been  more  carefully  investigated,  more  distinctly 
denned  and  reduced  to  scientific  principles.  Since  Virgil 
wrote  his  masterly  treatise  upon  the  habits  and  cultivation  of 
the  vine,  the  principles  which  should  govern  its  culture,  have 
been  within  the  reach  of  all  who  would  investigate  the  struc- 
ture of  this  plant  and  learn  the  soil  and  climate  adapted  to  its 
perfect  development.  And,  indeed,  it  could  scarcely  be  other- 
wise, as  the  vine  has  occupied  so  prominent  a  position  in  the 
husbandry  of  almost  all  the  enlightened  nations  of  ancient  and 
modern  times. 

Since  Noah  planted  a  vineyard,  the  vine  has  followed  the 
progress  of  husbandry  and  civilization  throughout  India,  Ara- 
bia, Palestine,  and  Southern  Europe.  It  holds  an  important 
place  in  the  history  of  those  seats  of  ancient  civilization  and 
progress.  The  "  vine-clad  hill"  occupied  a  conspicuous  posi- 
tion in  every  landscape,  and  the  juice  of  the  grape  had  its  place 
at  the  social  board  and  ruled  the  joys  of  the  banquet  hall. 
While  it  held  so  important  a  position  among  the  nations,  its 
value  led  the  ablest  minds  to  investigate  its  habits  and  deduce 
the  best  modes  of  culture  from  the  experience  of  the  many  en- 
gaged in  the  pleasant  pursuit.  Solomon  investigated  the  prop- 
erties of  the  vine,  and  Virgil  gave  so  excellent  a  treatise  upon 
its  habits  and  culture  that  the  investigations  and  experience  of 
the  last  two  thousand  years  have  added  but  little  to  the  know- 
ledge then  possessed. 

Since  then  the  habits  of  the  vine,  and  the  modes  of  culture 
best  adapted  to  it,  have  been  so  carefully  determined,  and  so 
thoroughly  established  by  the  experience  of  the  last  four  thou- 
sand years,  it  only  remains  for  the  cultivators  of  our  times  to 
investigate  the  modes  of  culture  so  long  and  so  successfully 

*  The  vast  importance  of  this  subject,  induced  me  to  make  a  most  thorough 
examination  of  all  the  facts  showing  the  adaptation  of  the  soil  and  climate  of 
this  region  to  the  culture  of  the  grape.  The  results  of  these  investigations  are 
most  satisfactory. 


12  GEOLOGICAL   REPORT. 

practised  in  India  and  the  countries  bordering  upon  the  Medi- 
terranean ;  to  inquire  how  far  the  varieties  there  cultivated, 
and  the  culture  there  adopted,  will  succeed  in  other  localities  ; 
to  determine  whether  some  new  varieties  may  not  succeed  bet- 
ter in  other  climates  and  soils  ;  and  what  modifications  of  cul- 
ture will  secure  the  highest  degree  of  success  in  the  various 
soils  and  climates  to  which  we  would  introduce  the  vine. 

It  is  obvious  that  the  success  of  the  grape  depends  upon  the 
mutual  adaptation  of  both  soil  and  climate.  In  places  where 
the  soil  has  all  the  requisite  properties,  the  climate  may  be  such 
as  to  prevent  full  success  ;  as  in  many  parts  of  New  England, 
where  the  climate  is  too  cold ;  and  in  England,  where  it  is  too 
moist.  In  many  localities  in  Southern  Europe,  the  soil  is  such 
as  to  prevent  the  full  success  of  the  vine,  though  the  climate  is 
all  that  could  be  desired. 

Soil. — According  to  Virgil*  and  the  best  authors  who  have 
followed  him,  the  soil  should  be  warm,  light,  dry,  and  rich  in 
alkalies  and  alkaline  earths,  especially  potash,  soda,  lime  and 
magnesia.  The  best  vines  have  been  grownf  upon  soils  of  this 
description ;  and  when  any  of  these  qualities  have  been  want- 
ing, the  most  skillful  vine-growers  have  supplied  the  de- 
ficiency by  artificial  means.  Hence  Virgil  directs  to  place  "po- 
rous stones  and  rough  shells"  in  the  trenches — the  stones  and 
shells  to  loosen  the  soil  and  perfect  the  drainage,  the  shells  to 
supply  the  deficit  of  lime. 

The  vine  has  ever  succeeded  the  best,  other  things  being 
equal,  in  a  calcareous  soil.  The  best  vineyards  upon  the  Rhine, 
the  Ohio,  and  the  Missouri,  are  upon  soils  rich  in  lime  ;  and,  ac- 
cording to  D'Orbigny,  the  wines  from  such  vineyards  in  France 
are  "  more  lively  and  spirituous." 

The  chemical  composition  of  a  plant  also  gives  us  sure  indi- 
cations of  the  mineral  ingredients  of  the  soil  required  for  its 
perfect  development.  The  following  table,  from  Johnston's 
Agricultural  Chemistry,  contains  the  compositions  of  five  vines, 
grown  on  five  different  soils.  The  result  shows  most  conclu- 


*  Geor.  Lib.  II.,  lines  217 — 221  and  262. — "  Optima  putn  arva  solo." 
t  The  great  vine  at  Windsor  Park  was  planted  fifty  years  ago.     "  In  1850," 
says  Prof.  Lindley,  "  it  produeed  2,000  large  bunches  of  magnificent  grapes,  filled 
a  house  138  feet  long  and  16  feet  wide,  and  had  a  stem  two  feet  nine  inches  in 
circumference.     The  border  in  which  it  grows  is  warm,  liyht,  dry  and  shallow." 


GEOLOGICAL   REPORT. 


13 


sively  what  mineral  substances  are  demanded  for  the  perfec- 
tion of  the  vine  : 


By 
Leibfraucn. 

By 

Weinchcimer. 

Primary  Rocks. 
Gratz. 

Mountain 
Limestone. 

Gratz. 

II 

|   0 
1 

9 
$ 

17-32 
28-50 
29-75 
9-78 
4-12 
5-20  ' 
1.96 
L82 
1-55 

25-24 
2-74 
40-75 
7-49 
1.52 
18-89 
2-88 
0-53 

34-13 
8  03 
32-67 
4-66 
0-16 
16-35 
2-16 
0-50 
1-45 

24-93 
7-31 
37-59 
7.12 
0-24 
19-55 
2-37 
0-35 
0-62 

26-41 
8-79 
33-47 
9-16 
0-19 
16-87 
2-44 
0-25 
2-48 

25-60 
11.07 
34-85 
7-64 
1-25 
15-37 
2-36 
0-68 
1-22 

Cfwlp                                           .  .  •     .  . 

100. 

100- 

100-11 

100-08 

100-06 

100-04 

Percentage  of  Ash  in  dry 

2-835 

2.689 

2-525 

2-25 

2-325 

2-525 

These  analyses  show  that  potash,  soda,  lime,  magnesia  and 
phosphoric  acid,  enter  largely  into  the  composition  of  the  vine, 
and  that  grapes  will  succeed  best  on  soils  rich  in  those  mate- 
rials. The  other  ingredients  are  such  as  are  found  in  nearly 
all  soils  and  may  be  left  out  of  our  investigations. 

It  is  a  well  established  principle  of  vegetable  science  that 
lime  may  supply  the  place  of  soda  and  potash,  in  part  at  least, 
in  some  plants.  The  following  analyses  of  vines  from  two 
localities  show  this  to  be  true  of  the  vine  also  : 

I.  II. 

Alkalies 45.82 27.98 

Lime 29.95 40.75 

If,  therefore,  soda  and  potash  be  deficient  in  a  soil,  their  places 
may  be  partially  supplied  by  lime,  should  it  exist  in  sufficient 
quantities. 

Climate. — The  success  of  the  grape  on  the  islands  and  the 
shores  of  the  Mediterranean,  shows  their  adaptation  to  a  climate 
in  which  the  winters  are  short  and  mild,  and  the  summers  are 
temperate  and  equable.  In  the  Ionian  Islands,  where  the  grape 
attains  great  perfection,  it  is  never  exposed  to  pinching  cold  or 
burning  heat,  or  to  any  very  sudden  changes  from  one  to  the 
other.  But  the  great  profusion  and  excellence  of  the  grapes  in 
India,  at  Candahar  and  Cabul,  "  the  sunny  home  of  the  grape," 


14  GEOLOGICAL   REPORT. 

indicate  an  ability  to  reach  perfection  in  spite  of  sudden  chan- 
ges from  extreme  cold  to  burning  heat.  "  In  no  part  of  the 
world,"  says  Lindley,  "  are  the  grapes  more  delicious  than  in 
Candahar  and  Cabul ;"  and  yet  the  traveller  speaks  of  the 
"  bitter  cold  wind  and  blazing  fires  at  niglit"  and  "  the  burning 
sun  by  day"  in  March,  and  the  sun's  heat  at  140°  in  May,  where 
the  grapes  ripen  as  early  as  June. 

We  may  conclude  then  that  the  grape  will,  under  favorable 
circumstances,  reach  the  greatest  perfection,  though  exposed 
to  sudden  changes  and  extremes  of  heat  and  cold. 

Having  ascertained  the  conditions  of  soil  and  climate  best 
adapted  to  the  successful  culture  of  the  vine,  it  has  been  my 
aim,  during  the  progress  of  the  Geological  Survey  of  Missouri, 
to  determine  how  far  these  conditions  arc  fulfilled  in  Missouri ; 
to  what  extent  and  with  what  succes  the  vine  may  be  cultivated 
in  our  State,  and  the  advantages  to  be  derived  from  its  culti- 
vation. 

In  order  to  secure  the  most  accurate  data  for  our  conclu- 
sions, our  investigations  have  been  directed  to  the  following 
subjects : 

1.  The  characters  and  habits  of  all  our  native  vines,  and  the 
soils  on  which  they  succeed  best,  have  been  carefully  noted. 

2.  Five  persons*  have  been  appointed  to  make  meteorologi- 
cal observations  ;  one  at  Springfield  in  the  south-west,  one  at 
Cape  Girardeau  in  the  south-east,  one  at  Palmyra  in  the  north- 
east, one  at  St.  Joseph  in  the  north-west,  and  one  at  Colum- 
bia in  the  centre,  in  the  valley  of  the  Missouri  river.     These 
observers  have  been  supplied  with  the  very  best  instruments, 
and  they  have  made  and  recorded  their  observations  according 
to  the  plan  adopted  by  the  Smithsonian  Institute. 

3.  The  experience  of  our  most  successful  vine-growers,  has 
been  collected,  and  the  results  carefully  compared  with   the 


*  It  gives  me  great  pleasure  to  bear  testimony  to  the  disinterested  labors  of 
those  who  have  so  faithfully  observed  and  recorded  the  meteorological  pheno- 
mena at  the  stations  above  named.  Our  State  will  be  under  many  obligations 
to  the  Rev.  G.  P.  Comings,  of  St.  Paul's  College,  Palmyra;  Rev.  James 
Knoud,  of  St.  Vincent's  College,  Cape  Girardeau  ;  J.  A.  Stephens,  Esq.,  of  Spring- 
field ;  E.  B.  Neely,  A.M.,  of  the  St.  Joseph  High  School ;  and  Miss  M.  B.  Hill, 
at  Columbia,  who  have  made  the  observations  at  their  several  localities. 


GEOLOGICAL  REPORT.  15 

conclusions  derived  from  our  examinations  of  the  climate,  soils, 
and  wild  vines  of  the  State. 

4.  The  soils  of  the  State  have  been  carefully  observed,  and 
the  varieties  collected  and  submitted  to  a  most  skillful  chemist 
for  full  and  accurate  analyses. 

Native  Grapes. — The  growth  and  fruit  of  our  native  vines 
give  us  most  important  indications  of  the  adaptation  of  our 
soil  and  climate  to  the  cultivation  of  the  grape.  The  folio  wing- 
species  have  been  observed,  and  the  growth,  habits,  and  fruit 
of  each  variety,  have  been  carefully  examined. 

1.    VITIS  LABRUSCA,  Linn.        Fox  Grape  of  the  Northern  States. 

This  vine  is  abundant  in  all  parts  of  the  State.  It  attains 
to  a  very  large  size*  in  our  rich  alluvial  bottoms  and  on  our 
best  upland  soils ;  but  the  vines  of  a  smaller  size,  which  grow 
upon  the  dry  ridges,  on  the  declivities  of  the  bluffs  (espe- 
cially those  of  the  Magnesian  Limestone),  and  on  the  talus 
of  debris  at  their  bases,  exhibit  a  healthy,  firm  growth,  and 
produce  an  abundance  of  fine  fruit.  The  grapes  found  in  these 
localities  are  larger  and  the  pulp  is  more  juicy  and  palatable. 

Many  well  known  and  excellent  varieties  of  grapes  now  in 
cultivation  were  derived  from  this  species.  The  Isabella, 
Catawba,  SchuylkiU,  and  Bland* s,  are  the  most  esteemed. 

2.    VITIS  JESTIVALIS,  Michx.          Summer  Grape. 

This,  like  the  preceding,  is  found  in  all  parts  of  the  State, 
and  is  doubtless  the  largest  of  all  our  vines.  It  is  one  of  the 
most  striking  objects  in  our  magnificent  forests.  While  the 
stem,  like  a  huge  cable,  hangs  suspended  from  the  limbs  of  the 
largest  trees,  the  branches  clothed  in  rich  foliage,  and  often 
loaded  with  fruit,  hang  in  graceful  festoons  over  the  highest 
boughs.  But  the  vines  growing  on  the  thin  soils  of  our  lime- 
stone ridges  and  bluffs,  .and  on  the  loose  debris  at  their  bases, 
where  they  are  more  exposed  to  the  air  and  the  sun,  produce  a 
greater  abundance  of  the  very  best  fruit. 


*  This  vine  often  attains  to  a  diameter  of  10  inches,  ascends  the  loftiest  trees 
and  spreads  its  branches  over  their  highest  boughs. 


16  GEOLOGICAL  REPORT. 

3.    VITIS  CORDIFOLL4,  Michx.         Winter  or  Frost  Grape. 

This  vine  is  widely  diffused  through  the  State ;  but  it  is  not 
so  large  as  the  Fox  or  the  Summer  Grape.  Its  fruit  is  small 
and  acerb. 

4.    VITIS  RIP  ARIA,   Michx.        River  Grape. 

This  grape  is  partial  to  the  alluvial  soils  along  the  margins 
of  our  streams.  It  grows  to  a  large  size. 

(  Muscadine  of  the  West,  and  Fox   Grape,  ac- 

5.    VITIS  VULPINA,  Linn.  1       cording  to  Elliott,  of  the  South-eastern 
(        States. 

It  is  most  abundant  in  the  southern  part  of  the  State.  It 
grows  very  large  and  produces  abundantly.  Its  fruit  is  very 
much  esteemed.  The  cultivated  Scuppernong  Grape  is  a  va- 
riety from  this  species. 

6.    VITIS  BIPINNATA,  Michx. 

This  plant  was  observed  in  Cape  Girardeau  and  Pemiscot 
counties. 

7.    VITIS  INDIVISA,    Wittd. 

This  vine  abounds  in  the  central  and  western  counties. 

From  this  list  it  will  be  seen  that  Missouri  possesses  all  the 
native  grapes  of  our  country  save  one,  the  Vitis  Caribcca?  (D. 
C.)  of  California.  The  vines  are  so  abundant  and  so  large  as 
to  form  an  important  and  conspicuous  part  in  every  copse  and 
thicket  throughout  the  entire  State.  They  are  everywhere 
present,  lending  grace  and  beauty  to  every  landscape,  and  in- 
dicating with  prophetic  certainty  that  the  day  is  not  far  distant 
when  the  purple  vineyards  will  cover  our  hills,  and  the  song  of 
the  vine-dresser  will  fill  the  land  with  joy,  and  the  generous 
juice  of  the  grape  will  improve  our  moral,  intellectual  and  phy- 
sical powers. 

Experience  of  our   Vine-dressers* — Several  vine-dressers  in 

*  I  am  indebted  to  Mr.  William  Haas,  of  Boonville,  Mr.  George  Husmann,  of 
Hermann,  Mr.  Frederic  Mench,  of  Marthasville,  and  Mr.  Joseph  Stuby,  of  Ham- 
burg, for  valuable  information  respecting  the  cultivation  of  grapes  in  our  State. 


GEOLOGICAL   REPORT.  17 

our  State  have  been  engaged  in  the  cultivation  of  the  grape 
during  the  last  twelve  or  fourteen  years.  Their  success  has 
been  fully  equal  to  their  expectations,  and  they  are  full  of  high 
hopes  of  the  most  useful  and  profitable  results,  even  of  entire 
and  permanent  success.  Their  experience  in  cultivating  the 
vine  has  led  them  to  the  same  conclusion  that  we  have  deduced 
from  our  scientific  examinations  of  the  soil,  climate  and  native 
vines,  viz :  that  the  vine  can  be  cultivated  with  entire  success 
in  favorable  localities  in  all  parts  of  the  State. 

It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  these  results  have  been 
derived  mostly  from  vineyards  in  the  valleys  of  the  Missouri 
and  Mississippi  rivers,  which  are  not,  by  far,  the  most  favorable 
localities  in  the  State;  for  the  "mildew"  and  the  "rot,"  the 
most  formidable  obstacles  they  have  had  to  contend  with,  may 
be  partially  or  entirely  obviated  in  localities  where  the  atmos- 
phere and  soil  are  not  so  densely  charged  with  moisture. 

"  The  rot,"  says  one  of  our  most  successful  vine-dressers, 
Mr.  Haas,  "  attacks  the  berries  when  the  soil  is  in  a  wet  condi- 
tion in  July  and  August."  "It  is  most  severe  on  the  low  and 
wet  parts  of  the  vineyard." 

Mr.  Husmann  says :  "  The  principal  cause,  all  are  agreed, 
is  an  excess  of  moisture  about  the  roots,  and  damp,  moist 
weather." 

Now  the  larger  part  of  our  vineyards  are  located  upon  a 
stiff,  cold,  clayey  subsoil,  which,  of  necessity,  retains  the  excess 
of  moisture,  and  produces  the  injurious  results.*  This  evil 
may  be  obviated  by  thorough  draining,  or,  what  is  better,  by 
selecting  some  of  the  millions  of  acres  in  the  southern  part  of 
the  State,  where  the  soil  is  warmer  and  lighter  and  richer  in 
the  ingredients  most  favorable  to  the  vine,  and  where  the  sub- 
soil is  so  porous  as  to  permit  a  free  passage  to  the  excess  of 
moisture. 

The  mildew  appears  in  June,  and  all  agree  that  it  is  caused 
by  "foggy,  damp  and  hot  weather  after  rains."  Now  our 
observations  prove  that  hot  damp  weather,  accompanied  by 
mists,  is  much  more  prevalent  in  the  valleys  of  the  Missouri 
and  the  Mississippi  than  on  the  table  lands  to  the  south. 

The  characters  of  the  two  regions  under  comparison,  show 

*See  Soil  No.  12,  page  10. 


18  GEOLOGICAL   REPORT. 

most  conclusively  that  the  excess  of  moisture  in  the  valleys 
must  be  considerable  and  permanent.  The  valleys  are  covered 
with  numerous  and  extensive  lakes,  sloughs,  and  forests  of 
rank  growth  and  vast  extent,  besides  the  broad  rivers  which 
flow  through  them ;  while  the  table  lands  are  almost  destitute 
of  lakes  and  ponds,  and  but  partially  covered  by  a  very  sparse 
and  much  less  vigorous  growth  of  timber;  and  besides,  they 
occupy  an  elevation  several  hundred  feet  above  the  valleys. 

No  fears,  therefore,  need  be  entertained  that  these  obstacles 
will  prevent  the  entire  success  of  vine  culture  in  Missouri, 
should 'our  atmosphere  even  continue  as  moist  as  at  present. 
But  we  may  expect  much  improvement  in  this  respect,  as  it  is 
fully  established  by  past  experience,  that  the  settlement  of  a 
country,  and  the  opening  of  a  soil  to  cultivation,  lessen  the 
amount  of  rain  and  moisture  in  the  atmosphere. 

Notwithstanding  the  many  difficulties  our  vine-dressers  have 
had  to  contend  with,  and  notwithstanding  some  of  their  vine- 
yards are  not,  to  say  the  least,  in  the  most  favorable  localities 
in  the  State,  their  success  has  been  very  flattering. 

The  vineyards  of  Boonville  have  yielded,  the  present  season, 
about  6,000  gallons,* worth  $12,000.  Five  acres  gave  a  clear 
profit  of  $2,000,  or  $400  per  acre.  Mr.  Haas  made  1,550  gal- 
lons from  three  acres. 

The  vintage  of  Hermann  was  about  100,000  gallons,  from 
less  than  200  acres.  At  $1.00  per  gallon — which  is  much  less 
than  the  value— it  will  give  a  profit  of  at  least  $400  per  acre, 
or  of  $80,000  on  the  200  acres  in  cultivation. 

One  small  vineyard  at  Hamburg,  Mr.  Joseph  Stuby's,  yielded 
over  1,000  gallons  per  acre.  ; » 

The  entire  cost  of  vineyards,  preparing  the  soil,  setting  and 
training  the  vines  until  they  come  into  bearing,  varies  from 
$200  to  $300  per  acre. 

Annual  cost  of  cultivation  after ..$50  to  $60  per  a< 


• 

r.  ,      .  ..  „  „_„.  -^~~ 

acre ; 
Ten  pef  cent,  on  first  cost  •  •  •  •  •  •  •  $20  to  $30  per  acre ; 

Total  expense  for  each  year 870  to  $90  per  acre ; 

,1     , 


so  that  an  income  of  $100  per  annum  for  each  acre  is  Sufficient 
to  pay  the  interest  on  the  first  cost  and  the  expense  of  cultiva- 
tion 

Judging  from  the  statistics  before  me,  I  would  suppose  all 
our  vineyards  have  yielded  an  average  of  at  least  250  gallons 


GEOLOGICAL   REPORT.  19 

per  acre  since  1849,  which,  at  an  average  price  per  gallon  of 
$1.60,  would  give  an  annual  income  of  $400,  and  a  yearly 
profit  of  $300  per  acre.  So  that  the  vine-dresser,  even  in  the 
poorest  seasons,  can  scarcely  fail  of  a  handsome  profit,  while 
in  good  years  his  gains  will  far  surpass  those  derived  from  any 
other  department  of  husbandry.  But  the  profits  of  our  most 
successful  cultivators  have  been  much  greater.  Mr.  Pceschel, 
of  Hermann,  is  said  to  have  made  over  400  gallons  per  acre 
for  the  last  ten  years,  and  an  annual  profit  of  more  than  $500 
for  each  acre. 

Such  are  the  favorable  results  legitimately  derived  from  the 
experience  of  our  vine-dressers  in  their  early  efforts  in  a  new 
country,  with  a  soil  and  climate  unknown  to  the  cultivators  of 
the  grape.  All  must  admit  that  they  are  most  satisfactory. 
Even  if  our  climate  does  not  become  more  dry,  if  no  more 
improvements  are  made  in  the  modes  of  culture,  and  if  no 
more  favorable  localities  are  obtained,  grape  culture  must 
increase  very  rapidly,  and  become  an  important  element  in  our 
agricultural  and  commercial  interests. 

Soil. — Nearly  all  the  soils  of  Missouri  possess  all  the  ingre- 
dients necessary  to  the  complete  development  of  the  vine  ;  but 
some  of  them  are  too  heavy,  wet  and  cold,  unless  improved  by 
artificial  means.  This  is  true  to  some  extent  of  those  on  the 
bluffs  of  the  Mississippi  and  Missouri,  where  nearly  all  the 
vineyards  of  our  State  are  located.  Still,  they  produce  an 
abundance  of  large  native  grapes,  on  vines  of  the  Vitis  labrusca, 
and  other  species. 

The  character  of  this  variety  of  soil  is  indicated  by  the 
analysis  of  a  specimen  from  the  bluff  of  Boone  county,  as 
given  above.  It  has  already  been  shown  that  it  covers  large 
areas  in  the  region  under  consideration.  The  superior  native 
grapes  growing  upon  this  soil,  and  the  success  of  the  vine- 
yards above  named,  prove  its  adaptation  to  the  vine.  Its 
greatest  defect  is  a  capacity  to  hold  and  retain  an  excess  of 
water,  which  must  be  remedied  by  trenching  and  a  proper 
admixture  of  vegetable  matter,  sand,  pebbles  and  broken  rocks. 

But  the  action  of  the  elements  upon  the  rocks  of  the  Mag-- 
nesian  Limestone  Series,  has  prepared  a  soil,  as  if  by  design, 
to  invite  the  vine-dresser  to  possess  and  cultivate  it. 

The  following  analysis  shows  the  properties  of  this  variety  of 
soil : 


20  GEOLOGICAL   REPORT. 

ANALYSIS  OF  A  MAGNESIAN  LIMESTONE  SOIL  FROM  THE  SOUTHERN  BLUFFS 
OF  CALLAAVAY  COUNTY,  BY  DR.  LITTON. 

Soil  No.  14. 

Water  expelled  by  heating  to  150°  C 1.1700 

Organic  matter  and  water  not  driven  off  at  150°  C 9.6299 

Silica,  etc.,  insoluble  in  hydrochloric  acid 54.2600 

Soluble  silica 0.1639 

Alumina 10.8588 

Peroxide  of  iron 2.5186 

Manganese a  trace 

Lime , 8.0720 

Magnesia 1.6609 

Potassa 1.6378 

Soda 0.3442 

Carbonic  acid 10.1111 

Sulphuric  acid 0.0605 

Phosphoric  acid 0.0950 

Chlorine 0.0053 

Total 100.5880 

This  soil  is  all  that  could  be  desired  for  the  culture  of  the 
grape.  It  contains  an  abundance  of  all  the  mineral  substances 
which  enter  into  the  composition  of  the  vine,  as  shown  above 
by  its  analysis.  While  it  is  warm,  light  and  dry,  it  contains 
large  quantities  of  magnesia  and  vegetable  matter,  or  humus, 
giving  it  great  capacity  for  absorbing  and  retaining  a  sufficient 
quantity  of  moisture,  even  in  the  droughts  of  summer. 

This  is  a  fair  representative  of  the  soils  on  the  Magnesian 
Limestone  ridges  and  slopes  throughout  Central  and  Southern 
Missouri.  These  slopes  and  ridges  occupy  millions  of  acres, 
now  deemed  worthless,  which  are,  in  fact,  by  far  the  most 
valuable  lands  in  this  part  of  the  State  for  the  cultivation  of 
the  grape.  Especially  is  this  true  of  those  located  upon  the 
southern  highlands,  away  from  the  vapors  and  sudden  changes 
of  our  large  rivers  and  their  broad  valleys. 

The  Magnesian  Limestone  series,  from  which  this  soil  is 
derived,  occupies  a  large  part  of  the  poor  portions  of  the  coun- 
try on  the  South-western  Branch.  The  Magnesian  Limestones, 
sandstones,  porous  chert,  and  the  thin  beds  of  reddish,  brown 
marly  clays  that  usually  overlie  the  limestones,  all  combine  to 
form  a  soil  light,  dry,  warm  and  rich,  in  all  the  elements 
needed  for  the  grape,  as  shown  by  the  foregoing  analysis.  In 
many  places  this  soil  is  underlaid  with  a  sufficient  quantity  of 


GEOLOGICAL   REPORT.  21 

pebbles  and  fragments  of  porous  chert  to  constitute  a  most 
thorough  system  of  drainage,  while  in  others  the  fragments  of 
chert  are  disseminated  through  the  soil  in  such  quantities  as  to 
injure  it  somewhat  for  ordinary  cultivation,  but  which  gives 
precisely  the  preparation  so  highly  recommended  by  Virgil 
and  late  authors,  and  the  best  cultivators  of  the  grape. 

It  is  true  that  the  native  vines  do  not  grow  so  large  and 
sappy  in  this  as  in  the  deep  damp  soils  of  the  State ;  but  they 
are  nevertheless  strong  and  healthy,  and  produce  finer  clusters 
of  larger  and  better  grapes.  This  improvement  was  particu- 
larly observed  in  the  Muscadine,  the  Northern  Fox,  and  the 
Summer  Grapes. 

This  variety  of  soil  also  extends  over  other  portions  of  the 
State.  It  occupies  large  portions  of  nearly  all  the  highlands 
in  Southern  Missouri,  the  counties  on  both  sides  of  the  Osage, 
and  over  the  southern  part  of  Boone,  Callaway,  Montgomery, 
and  Warren,  on  the  north  side  of  the  Missouri,  occupying,  in 
all,  an  area  of  some  15,000,000  acres.  Of  these,  at  least 
5,000,000  acres  might  be  selected  in  the  most  desirable  locali- 
ties, much  of  it  on  the  line  of  the  South-western  Branch,  and 
devoted  to  vineyards  without  encroaching  upon  the  lands  most 
desirable  for  other  departments  of  agriculture.  And,  so  far  as 
we  can  judge  from  the  characteristics  of  soil  and  climate,  and 
the  indications  of  the  native  vines,  these  5,000,000  acres  in  the 
highlands  of  Southern  Missouri,  present  rare  inducements  to 
the  vine-dresser — such  a  combination  of  favorable  circumstances 
as  will  not  fail  to  attract  the  attention  of  those  who  would 
engage  in  this  most  pleasant  and  profitable  department  of  hus- 
bandry. And  so  important  will  be  the  results,  that  every  effort 
should  be  put  forth  to  hasten  the  time  when  these  5,000,000* 
acres  shall  be  covered  with  flourishing  vineyards ;  giving  profit- 
able employment  to  2,000,000  people ;  yielding  more  than 
1,000,000,000  gallons  of  wine ;  and  an  annual  profit,  at  the 
lowest  estimate,  of  $500,000,000.  And,  what  is  still  more  im- 
portant, the  pure  nourishing  juice  of  the  grape  would  take  the 
place  of  the  vile,  maddening  compounds  used  in  the  names  of 
wine  and  brandy ;  drunkenness  would  give  place  to  sobriety ; 

*  France  has  about  5,000,000  acres  in  vineyards.  They  yield  925,000,000 
gallons  of  wine,  besides  the  95,000,000  gallons  distilled  into  brandy,  and  give 
profitable  employment  to  2,000,000  of  people,  mostly  women  and  children. 


» 

•2'2  GEOLOGICAL   REPORT. 

and  our  people,  nourished  by  the  grape  and  its  pure  wines, 
would  become  as  robust  and  hardy  as  they  are  now  daring  and 
indomitable. 

tural  Terraces. — The  bluffs  of  the  numerous  streams  in 
Southern  Missouri  usually  slope  back  into  knobs  and  ridges, 
which  are  frequently  surrounded  by  numerous  natural  ter- 
races, so  regular  and  uniform  that  they  appear  like  the  work 
of  human  hands,  as  seen  in  Plate  Till.  These  terraces  are 
produced  by  the  decomposition  of  the  strata  of  Magnesian 
Limestones  which  form  the  blutfs.  Their  height  varies  from 
one  to  six  feet,  and  the  width  of  the  top  from  two  to  twelve, 
according  to  the  angle  of  the  slope  and  the  height  of  the  ter- 
race. Their  surfaces  are  nearly  level,  and  are  usually  covered 
with  a  light,  warm  and  rich  soil,  containing  fragments  of  chert 
and  the  decomposing  limestone,  all  wonderfully  prepared  by 
nature  for  the  planting  of  vineyards.  These  terraces  generally 
surround  high,  open  ridges  and  knobs,  exposed  to  the  free 
circulation  of  the  dry  atmosphere  of  the  region  under  con- 
sideration. 

We  have  as  yet  observed  but  one  objection  to  their  use  for 
vineyards.  In  some  places  the  soil  does  not  appear  to  be 
sufficiently  deep  to  secure  the  vine  against  the  effects  of 
droughts.  But,  as  an  offset  to  the  want  of  depth,  it  always 
contains  large  proportions  of  carbonate  of  magnesia  and 
humus,  which  give  it  great  capacity  for  absorbing  and  retain- 
ing moisture,  as  these  substances  possess  this  capacity  to  a 
greater  degree  than  any  of  the  other  ingredients  of  our  soils. 
And,  besides,  the  thinnest  soils  on  these  terraces  sustain  a 
vigorous  growth  of  prairie  grasses,  flowers,  shrubs  and  vines, 
which  produce  the  finest  quality  of  grapes  in  great  profusion. 

Caves. — There  are  numerous  spacious  caves  in  all  parts  of 
this  interesting  country.  The  temperature  of  those  measured 
ranges  between  50C  and  60°  F.  Many  of  them  would  make 
most  excellent  wine  cellars,  as  their  temperature  is  sufficiently 
low  and  uniform  to  prevent  that  acidity  to  which  the  wines  of 
all  temperate  latitudes  are  predisposed. 

These  facts  respecting  the  native  vines,  the  climate,  the  expe- 
rii/ice  of  our  vine-growers,  and  the  soil,  clearly  prove  the 
capacity  of  Missouri  to  become  the  great  wine-growing  region 
of  our  continent.  They  should  encourage  those  noble  spirits 


GEOLOGICAL  REPORT.  23 

who  have  so  faithfully  devoted  their  labor  and  their  money  to 
promote  this  important  department  of  husbandry  in  our  midst ; 
for  the  time  is  not  far  distant  when  the  "  poor  flint  ridges  " 
and  terraced  slopes  of  Southern  Missouri  will  be  as  valuable 
for  vineyards  as  some  of  them  are  now  for  their  rich  mineral 
deposits ;  when  the  vineyards  of  Pulaski  and  La  Clede  will 
compete  in  golden  profits  with  the  hemp  farms  of  Lafayette 
and  Platte ;  and  the  vine-clad  hills  of  the  beautiful  Meramec 
and  the  Gasconade  will  vie  in  wealth  with  the  leaden  veins  of 
Potosi  and  Granby. 

It  will  thus  be  seen  that  even  the  poorest  soils  and  those  in 
the  most  broken  parts  of  this  country  will  become  very  valua- 
ble for  the  culture  of  the  grape.  And  I  might  add  that  their 
value  for  vineyards  will  increase  in  about  the  same  ratio  as 
their  fitness  for  the  other  departments  of  husbandry  decreases. 

ABSTRACTS   FROM   THE   COUNTY  REPORTS   OP   DR.  B.  F.  SHUMARD. 

"  Crawford  County. — This  county  presents  great  variety  of 
surface,  from  level  or  moderately  rolling  prairie,  and  '  oak 
openings,'  to  rough,  rocky  hills  with  abrupt  and  uneven  slopes. 
The  soil  varies  from  rich  alluvial  bottom  land  to  productive  or 
nearly  sterile  upland.  On  the  northern  side  of  the  dividing 
ridge,  on  which  is  located  the  Pacific  Railroad,  the  country  con- 
sists of  moderately  rolling  or  level  oak  openings  and  prairie, 
traversed  by  numerous  beautiful  prairie  valleys,  bounded  by 
gentle  hills  from  eighty  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  high,  the 
whole  presenting  a  most  desirable  region  for  the  agriculturalist. 

"  On  the  southern  side  of  this  ridge  the  topographical  fea- 
tures of  the  country  are  quite  different.  Near  the  Meramec 
and  its  principal  affluents,  Huzza,  Crooked  and  Dry  creeks,  the 
surface  is  often  extremely  rough  and  rocky,  and  the  hills  from 
one  to  four  hundred  feet  in  height.  But  on  the  summits  of  these 
ridges  we  frequently  find  extensive  tracts  of  nearly  level,  post 
oak,  black  oak,  and  hickory  lands,  which  are  capable  of  being 
cultivated  to  good  advantage.  The  alluvial  bottoms  of  all  the 
principal  streams  are  broad,  extremely  productive,  and  very 
heavily  timbered. 

"Phelps  County. — In  its  general  features  this  county  is  very 
similar  to  the  preceding.  It  is  generally  rolling,  and  possesses 


24  GEOLOGICAL   REPORT. 

a  great  deal  of  fine  agricultural  land,  with  here  and  there  dis- 
tricts that  arc  quite  broken  and  illy  adapted  to  cultivation. 
The  western  portion  is  the  most  broken,  particularly  in  the  vi- 
cinity of  the  larger  streams.  So  soon  as  we  leave  the  valleys 
of  these  streams,  we  encounter  rough,  rocky  hills  with  abrupt 
slopes,  characterized  by  poor  and  sometimes  barren  soils,  ex- 
tending back  for  distances  varying  from  a  half  of  a  mile  to  two 
miles  on  either  side.  Then  succeed  elevated  and  gently  un- 
dulating table  lands,  possessing  moderately  fertile  soils.  There 
is  also  some  rough  country  bordering  the  valleys  of  the  Dry 
Fork  of  the  Meramec  and  Norman  Hollow.  The  dividing  ridge 
between  the  Meramec  and  Bourbeuse  presents  a  succession  of 
beautiful  woodlands  and  prairies,  and  affords  some  of  the  finest 
farms  in  the  county.  On  the  north  side  of  this  ridge  we  have 
rolling  oak  lands,  dotted  occasionally  with  patches  of  prairie. 
They  possess  arable  soils,  particularly  where  the  underlying 
rock  is  the  2d  Magnesian  Limestone,  which  under  proper  cul- 
ture yield  abundant  and  profitable  crops.  From  experiments 
made  in  the  county  by  an  intelligent  farmer,  we  know  that  these 
lands  are  capable  of  vast  improvement  from  thorough  sub- 
soiling. 

"  The  valleys  of  Little  Piney,  Spring  and  Dry  Fork  of  Meramec 
and  Bourbeuse,  have  a  width  varying  from  a  hundred  yards  to 
a  half  of  a  mile,  and  their  soils  are  remarkable  for  their  pro- 
ductiveness, throughout  nearly  their  whole  extent.  The  val- 
leys of  the  smaller  streams  contain  also  many  very  desirable 
farm  sites. 

"Pttlaski  County  is  in  general  very  hilly  and  broken,  but 
there  are  extensive  districts  of  rich  and  productive  agricultural 
lands  in  the  alluvial  bottoms  of  the  streams,  as  well  as  in  the 
uplands.  The  hills  range  from  fifty  to  five  hundred  feet  above 
the  water-courses.  If  we  travel  back  from  the  streams,  avoid- 
ing the  valleys  of  the  smaller  branches,  we  usually  find  at  first 
very  rough  hills  with  steep  declivities,  strewn  with  a  great  deal 
of  chert  and  sandstone,  then  the  surface  becomes  gently  rolling, 
or  expands  into  level  plains,  constituting  what  are  known  in 
the  country  as  "post  oak  flats"  which  are  found  on  the  sum- 
mits of  most  of  the  higher  ridges,  and  vary  in  width  from  a 
hundred  yards  to  a  couple  of  miles.  For  a  short  time  during 
the  spring  these  plains  are  occasionally  wet,  but  after  they  have 


GEOLOGICAL   REPORT.  25 

been  once  thoroughly  broken  up  by  the  plough,  they  are  no 
longer  so,  but  form  desirable  farming  lands.  The  most  exten- 
sive "flats  "  lie  between  the  Gasconade,  Robideaux,  and  Big 
Piney,  and  east  of  the  latter  stream ;  they  also  frequently  oc- 
cur on  the  ridges  in  the  northern  part  of  the  county.  The  val- 
leys of  the  principal  streams  are  from  a  few  hundred  yards  to  a 
mile  wide,  and  are  remarkable  for  the  fertility  of  their  soils. 
Indeed,  they  may  be  grouped  with  the  very  finest  soils  of  our 
State  for  the  culture  of  corn,  and  after  being  partially  exhausted 
are  well  adapted  to  the  growth  of  wheat  and  other  species  of 
small  grain.  The  soils  of  the  smaller  valleys  are  also  quite 
productive,  and  many  of  the  choicest  farms  of  the  county  are 
here  located.  They  do  not  usually  exceed  a  quarter  of  a  mile 
in  width,  but  often  extend  for  several  miles  in  length,  and  are 
then  known  as  "  Prairie  Hollows.''''  The  next  in  point  of  fer- 
tility are  the  soils  of  the  uplands,  underlaid  by  the  2d  Magnesian 
Limestone,  and  the  poorest  are  those  overlying  the  2d  Sand- 
stone and  cherty  beds  of  the  3d  Magnesian  Limestone. 

"  La  Clede  County. — In  its  topography  this  county  is  very 
similar  to  Crawford  and  Wright,  exhibiting  great  diversity  of 
surface.  In  the  vicinity  of  the  Big  Niangua,  Gasconade  and 
Osage  Fork,  the  hills  range  from  one  hundred  and  fifty  to  five 
hundred  feet  in  height,  and  are  separated  from  each  other  by 
deep  and  narrow  valleys.  But  after  we  leave  these  streams  a 
short  distance,  the  face  of  the  country  assumes  a  less  broken 
aspect,  and  as  we  approach  the  summit  level,  we  find  mod- 
erately rolling  oak  lands  and  broad  oak  flats,  in  which  may  be 
located  many  productive  and  desirable  farms.  Between  the 
Osage  Fork  and  Gasconade  the  Pacific  Railroad  passes  over  a 
broad  and  fertile  district  of  undulating  oak  openings,  inter- 
rupted by  extensive  prairies.  The  valleys  of  these  streams  are 
from  a  quarter  of  a  mile  to  one  mile  wide.  They  possess  soils 
whose  richness  can  scarcely  be  surpassed,  and  support  a  heavy 
growth  of  the  finest  kinds  of  timber.  The  valleys  of  the  small 
branches  are  also  highly  arable.  Those  of  Goodwin  Hollow, 
Bear,  Mill,  Cobbs,  Prairie,  and  Brush  creeks,  afford  numerous 
excellent  farms. 

"Wright  Counti/. — The  surface  is  hilly  and  occasionally 
rough  and  broken.  The  elevation  of  the  hills  ranges  from  fifty 
to  four  hundred  and  fifty  feet  above  the  adjacent  streams.  Most 


26  GEOLOGICAL   REPORT. 

frequently  they  are  neatly  rounded  in  outline,  and  present 
gradually  ascending  slopes.  Near  the  Gasconade  and  its 
branches,  their  sides  are  often  rough  and  precipitous.  The 
6  Ozark  Mountains '  (hills  would  be  more  proper)  traverse  the 
southern  tier  of  townships  and  constitute  the  dividing  ridge 
between  the  waters  of  the  Missouri  and  White  river.  The 
bearing  of  this  ridge  is  nearly  east  and  west.  The  ascent  from 
the  north  is  rather  moderate,  but  the  southern  slope  presents 
usually  steep  declivities  down  to  the  valleys.  The  soils  of  the 
uplands  are  of  course  greatly  modified  by  the  character  of  the 
subjacent  strata.  Throughout  much  the  largest  portion  of  the 
county,  the  soils  are  of  excellent  quality,  and  produce  well, 
while  the  land  is  just  sufficiently  undulating  to  secure  proper 
drainage.  In  places  where  the  arenaceous  and  cherty  beds  of 
the  Magnesian  Limestone  series  reach  the  surface,  the  soil  is 
thin  and  light,  and  sometimes  entirely  unfit  for  cultivation  from 
the  large  proportion  of  chert  it  contains.  The  soils  of  the  val- 
leys of  every  part  of  the  county  are  remarkable  for  their  rich- 
ness and  fertility." 


"In  Green  county,  the  heavy  timber  in  the  bottoms  of  the 
Pomme  de  Terre  and  the  Sac,  of  James'  Fork  of  White  river, 
of  Clear  creek,  and  the  Finley,  clearly  indicate  the  richness  of 
the  alluvial  soil  in  those  beautiful  valleys.  The  soil  is  also  good 
in  a  part  of  the  country  between  Stephen's  mill  and  Ray's  post 
office,  in  sections  17  and  18  of  T.  30,  R.  24,  and  in  the  larger 
part  of  Grand  prairie,  Leaper's  prairie  and  Buck's  prairie,  in 
Ts.  26  and  27,  Rs.  25  and  26. 

"In  Lawrence  county,  in  Sections  26,  27,  28  and  36,  of  T.  26, 
R.  26,  in  the  valleys  of  Spring,  Crane,  Center,  and  Honey 
creeks,  and  in  Sarcoxie  and  Ozark  prairies,  the  soil  is  excellent. 

"In  Newton  county,  the  valleys  of  nearly  all  the  streams  are 
rich  and  well  timbered ;  that  of  Indian  creek  is  beautiful  and 
rich,  as  are  also  the  valleys  of  Hickory,  Shoal  and  Buffalo 
creeks. 

"In  Jasper,  the  bottoms  of  Silver  creek,  and  Carver's  of  Spring 
river,  are  rich  and  well  timbered.  Round,  Dimond  and  Spring 
river  prairies  are  rich. 


GEOLOGICAL   REPORT.  27 

"In  La  Cledc  and  Camden,  the  valleys  of  the  Auglaize  and 
the  Gasconade,  and  their  tributaries,  and  many  of  the  slopes 
descending  to  those  streams,  are  covered  with  fine  soils. 

"In  Maries  county,  the  soil  is  good  in  the  bottom  of  Spring 
creek,  in  the  valley  of  the  Maries,  and  on  the  Dry  Fork  of  the 
Bourbeuse,  and  in  Lane's  prairie,  and  the  adjacent  timbered 
lands. 

"In  the  following  localities  the  soil  is  good,  though  somewhat 
inferior  to  that  in  the  places  above  named : 

"Sec.  16,  T.  27,  R.  21,  and  Sec.  10  of  R.  22,  in  the  same 
township  ;  the  country  from  Ray's  post  office  to  the  south-west 
some  five  miles  ;  in  Sec.  28,  T.  27,  R.  24,  and  the  valleys  at 
the  head  of  Buck  prairie,  in  Sec.  18,  T.  26,  R.  24  ;  from  the 
head  valley  of  Spring  river,  in  Sec.  36,  T.  26,  R.  26,  to  the 
head  of  Crane  creek,  in  Sec.  4,  T.  25,  R.  25  ;  from  Pickerel 
creek  to  Sec.  24,  T.  29,  R.  24  ;  the  timbered  land  between 
Grand  and  Lcaper's  prairies  ;  the  hills  near  Clear  creek,  in 
Green  county ;  Sees.  7,  8,  18,  19,  20  and  30  of  T.  30,  R.  24  ; 
Sees.  24  and  25  of  T.  30,  R.  25,  and  Sec.  10,  T.  29,  R.  24  ;  the 
valleys  of  the  South  Fork  of  Pomme  de  Terre  and  the  North 
Fork  of  the  Sac,  in  Sees.  4,  5  and  6,  T.  30,  R.  19  ;  Sees.  35  and 
36,  T.  31,  R.  20,  and  Sees.  1,  2  and  3  of  T.  30,  R.  20  ;  the 
ridges  between  Ozark  and  Mr.  W.  C.  Smart's,  in  Green  county  ; 
the  narrow  bottoms  in  T.  24,  R.  27  ;  from  Sec.  28,  T.  26,  R.  26 
to  the  south-west,  along  the  Railroad  line,  some  four  or  five 
miles  ;  the  timber  near  the  head  of  Little  Indian  creek,  and 
Sec.  18,  T.  24,  R.  30  ;  Sec.  8,  T.  24,  R.  30,  and  T.  24,  Rs.  33 
and  34  ;  the  southern  part  of  Swa's  prairie,  in  Newton  county  ; 
the  timber  from  Swa's  prairie  to  Jay's  prairie,  in  the  south-east 
part  of  T.  25,  R.  32  ;  the  timber  on  the  edge  of  Dimond  prairie, 
and  on  the  Railroad  line  from  Hickory  creek  west  to  the  State 
line  ;  Spurgeon's  prairie,  and  the  county  about  Duff's  lead 
mines,  in  Sec.  31,  T.  28,  R.  32 ;  the  bottoms  in  Sec.  18,  T.  27, 
R.  28,  and  T.  28,  R.  31  ;  from  Spring  river  to  Mt.  Vernon, 
and  from  Mt.  Yernon  north-west  to  Adam's  branch,  and  from 
the  Middle  to  the  East  Fork  of  the  Turnback ;  from  Pickerel 
creek  to  Sec.  9,  T.  28,  R.  24  ;  the  lands  on  the  St.  Louis  and 
Springfield  road,  through  the  most  of  Webster  and  La  Clede 
counties  ;  parts  of  the  valleys  of  Dry,  Spring,  Cave-Spring,  and 


28  GEOLOGICAL   REPORT. 

Little  Tavern  creeks,  in  Maries  county  ;  the  hills  and  valleys 
near  Clifty  Dale,  and  the  white-oak  lands  of  Maries  county." 

MINERALS. 

The  mineral  wealth  of  the  region  under  consideration  is  very 
great,  and  cannot  fail,  when  fully  developed,  to  command  the 
admiration  of  the  world,  and  greatly  increase  the  material 
wealth  of  our  State. 

BUILDING     MATERIALS 

are  very  abundant  in  all  parts.  There  is  an  ample  supply  of 
limestones  and  sandstones  and  marbles,  suitable  for  all  the 
purposes  to  which  such  materials  are  usually  applied.  Clays 
and  sands  of  excellent  quality  for  limes  and  cements  exist  in 
large  quantities  in  nearly  all  parts  of  this  country.  Gravel 
and  pebbles  of  good  quality  for  roads  and  streets  occur  in  great 
Abundance. 

IRON     ORE 

of  most  excellent  quality  exists  in  great  quantities.  The  Red 
and  Brown  Hematites  are  the  most  common ;  they  occur  in 
nearly  all  the  counties,  and  are  found  in  the  Ferruginous 
Sandstone  and  the  Magnesian  Limestones.  One  of  the  most 
valuable  localities  of  iron  was  observed  in  the  south-western 
part  of  Green  county.  Large  masses  of  fibrous  brown  hema- 
tite cover  several  acres  in  the  S.E.  qr.  of  the  S.E.  qr.  of  Sec. 
24,  T.  27,  R.  24.  The  bed  is  more  than  eight  feet  thick  in  a 
shaft  sunk  into  it.  In  the  S.W.  qr.,  Sec.  19,  T.  27,  R.  23,  we 
saw  another  large  bed  of  the  same  ore.  The  same  excellent 
ore  covers  many  acres  in  the  N.W.  qr.  of  the  same  section.  It 
also  abounds  in  Sec.  7  of  the  same  township,  and  in  Sees.  14 
and  15,  T.  27,  R.  24.  There  are  also  large  beds  of  this  ore  to 
the  N.  and  N.E.  of  these  localities.  Some  important  beds  of 
the  common  brown  hematite  occur  at  Pond  Springs,  and  sev- 
eral other  localities  in  Green  county.  In  Sec.  2,  T.  25,  R.  25, 
in  Stone  county,  large  quantities  of  the  ore  were  observed. 
Beds  of  less  importance  were  also  seen  in  nearly  all  the  coun- 
ties examined. 


GEOLOGICAL   REPORT.  29 

In  Dent  county,  in  Sees.  2,  3,  10  and  11,  of  T.  35,  R.  4  W., 
is  one  of  the  most  valuable  and  extensive  deposits  of  the  spec- 
ular oxide  of  iron,  near  the  line  of  the  South-west  Branch. 
The  ore  is  rich  and  pure,  and  will  yield  a  very  large  per  cent, 
of  the  very  best  iron.  In  appearance  the  ore  is  intermediate 
between  that  of  the  Iron  Mountain  and  that  at  the  Pilot  Knob ; 
but  in  quality  it  is  not  surpassed  by  either.  These  beds  must 
become  very  valuable  as  the  county  settles  up  and  the  demand 
for  iron,  in  that  part  of  the  State,  is  greatly  increased. 

Brown  hematite  was  observed  in  many  localities  in  La  Clede 
county.  Mr.  Engelmann  examined  large  masses  of  it  near 
Bear  creek,  in  Sec.  25,  T.  36,  R.  14.  The  Meramec  Ore  Beds, 
in  Phelps  county,  is  a  valuable  deposit  of  compact  specular 
ore,  which  has  been  wrought  since  1829.  In  Sec.  32,  T.  37, 
R.  8,  there  is  another  extensive  bed  of  the  same  ore.  Iron  ore 
is  also  reported  in  Sec.  27,  T.  36,  R.  7  ;  Sec.  11,  T.  39,  R.  8, 
and  in  Sec.  13,  T.  37,  R.  7. 

In  Crawford  county  there  are  many  very  important  localities 
of  iron  ore,  as  shown  by  the  following  abstract  of  Dr.  Shu- 
mar  d's  report  on  that  county : 

"  Iron  ore  of  excellent  quality  has  been  found  at  a  number  of 
localities  in  this  county,  generally  associated  with  the  2d  Sand- 
stone and  the  cherty  parts  of  the  3d  Magnesian  Limestone. 
The  varieties  observed  are  the  brown  hematite,  specular  oxide, 
and  sulphuret.  Brown  hematite  and  the  specular  oxide  are 
found  in  S.E.  of  N.E.  qr.  Sec.  5,  T.  37,  R.  4  W.  It  is  thickly 
strewn  over  the  surface,  and  probably  exists  in  workable  quan- 
tity. 

"Brown  hematite  occurs  at  a  number  of  points  in  T.  36, 
R.  3  W.  In  Sees.  15  and  36  it  is  most  abundant,  commingled 
with  pseudomorphous  crystals  of  pyrites,  chert  and  crystallized 
quartz.  At  Bleeding  Hill,  according  to  Mr.  Engelmann,  there 
seems  to  be  a  rich  deposit  of  specular  ore  of  excellent  quality. 
Two  shafts  have  been  sunk  here,  one  of  them  through  thirty- 
seven  feet  of  red  clay  and  comminuted  chert.  In  this  shaft 
the  miners  encountered  a  four-foot  bed  of  soft,  purple  iron  ore, 
greasy  to  the  touch,  like  the  paint  ore  at  the  Meramec  Iron 
Works. 

"  In  S.E.  of  S.E.  qr.  Sec.  2,  T.  38,  R.  6,  and  Sec.  1,  T.  38, 
R.  3,  are  workable. beds  of  iron  ore. 


30  GEOLOGICAL  REPORT. 

"  In  N.W.  of  Sec.  13,  T.  37,  R.  7,  specular  ore  abounds, 
together  with  pseudomorphous  crystals  of  pyrites. 

"  Specular  ore  of  fine  quality  abounds  in  S.E.  of  S.W.  qr. 
Sec.  32,  T.  35,  R.  5.  Specular  oxide  is  also  found  in  Sec.  4, 
T.  37,  R.  3,  and  other  places  in  the  same  township. 

"  But  little  mining  has  been  done  in  this  county ;  still,  the 
surface  indications  warrant  the  opinion  that  the  mines  are 
worthy  of  being  more  thoroughly  tested. 

"  Iron  ore  of  the  best  quality  abounds  at  a  number  of  locali- 
ties in  Phelps  county.  The  oldest  known,  and,  perhaps,  most 
valuable  deposit  in  this  county,  is  the  Meramec  Ore  Banks, 
situated  about  a  half  mile  from  the  Meramec,  on  the  west  side. 
This  bank  was  opened  as  early  as  1826,  by  Messrs.  Massey  & 
James,  who  commenced  the  erection  of  a  furnace,  which  was 
completed  in  the  month  of  January,  1829,  and  has  been  in 
operation  at  intervals  up  to  the  present  time.  The  ore,  which 
is  a  rich,  compact  specular  variety,  is  wrought  by  Messrs. 
James,  the  present  proprietors,  with  considerable  profit.  It 
occurs  in  large  rounded  or  angular  masses,  and  appears  to  be 
almost  inexhaustible. 

"  When  the  masses  are  broken  they  exhibit  cavities  filled  with 
small,  extremely  beautiful,  fibrous  crystals  of  iron,  which  are 
highly  iridescent,  and  sometimes  perfectly  transparent  quartz 
crystals.  In  some  parts  of  the  bank  the  specular  ore  is  im- 
bedded in  a  soft,  purplish  hematite,  which  is  quite  soapy  to  the 
touch.  It  forms  an  excellent  and  valuable  paint,  for  which 
purpose  large  quantities,  I  am  told,  are  sent  annually  to  the 
eastern  cities.  The  sandstone  in  the  neighborhood  contains 
masses  of  iron  pyrites. 

"  In  Sec.  32,  T.  37,  R.  8,  there  is  an  extensive  deposit  of  spec- 
ular ore,  very  similar  in  character  to  the  Meramec  Bank.  It 
was  examined  by  Mr.  Engelmann. 

"  In  N.W.  qr.  of  Sec.  27,  T.  36,  R.  7,  large  masses  of  specular 
and  brown  iron  ore  abound  on  the  surface.  A  shaft  of  fifteen 
feet  has  been  sunk  here,  from  which  a  good  deal  of  argillaceous 
red  hematite  has  been  taken. 

"  In  Sec.  11,  T.  39,  R.  8,  small  quantities  of  good  hematite 
occur ;  and  also  in  Sec.  13,  T.  37,  R.  7.  Beautiful  pseudo- 
morphous crystals  of  iron  pyrites  were  found  in  large  masses 
near  Weber's,  in  the  R.R.  cut. 


GEOLOGICAL  EEPORT.  31 

"  Iron  ore  is  found  at  many  localities  in  Pulaski  county.  A 
large  deposit  of  specular  iron  ore,  similar  to  that  used  at  the 
Meramec  Iron  Works  in  Phelps  county,  was  examined  by  Mr. 
Engelmann  in  Sec.  31,  T.  37,  R.  12.  In  N.E.  qr.  of  Sec.  30, 
T.  36,  R.  11,  there  exists  a  large  deposit  of  brown  hematite. 
It  occurs  in  the  cherty  beds  of  the  2d  Sandstone  and  3d  Mag- 
nesian  Limestones.  Large  masses  of  brown  hematite  were  also 
observed  on  the  hills  of  Bee  Branch,  in  T.  37,  R.  10.  In  a 
cave  in  Sec.  19,  T.  36,  R.  8,  sulphuret  of  iron  occurs.  Sul- 
phuret  and  brown  hematite  are  also  found  in  Sec.  9,  T.  38, 
R.  13. 

"  Fragments  of  brown  and  specular  ore  were  observed  at  many 
points  in  La  Clede  county,  but  only  in  small  quantities.  Mr. 
Engelmann  observed  large  masses  of  brown  hematite  near  Bear 
creek,  in  Sec.  25,  T.  36,  R.  14. 

"  Jefferson  County.— In  N.E.  qr.  of  Sec.  4,  T.  39,  R.  4  E.,  on 
land  belonging  to  Mr.  Prcntiss,  is  a  deposit  of  brown  hematite 
which  appears  to  be  of  good  quality.  The  ore  projects  in  large 
masses  above  the  surface  of  the  ground,  and  the  indications  are 
that  it  exists  in  workable  quantity." 

ABSTRACT     FROM     MR. 

"  Near  the  line  between  Webster  and  Green  counties,  in 
Sec.  18,  found  hematite  in  fragments,  some  of  them  quite 
large.  They  occurred  in  a  ravine  about  the  line  between  the 
Saccharoidal  Sandstone  and  2d  Magnesian  Limestone. 

"In  Green  county,  in  Sees.  24  and  25,  T.  29,  R.  24  W., 
on  the  summit  and  sides  of  a  low  hill,  masses  of  brown  hema- 
tite of  a  good  quality  were  found.  The  underlying  rock,  as 
observed  at  the  nearest  locality,  was  Encrinital  limestone. 

"  Iron  ore  is  abundant  in  Maries  county,  occurring  both  as 
a  hematite  and  a  sulphuret.  The  sulphuret  is  found  in  small 
quantities  in  many  places.  It  is  most  abundant  in  Sees.  28 
and  30,  T.  38,  R.  9  W.,  on  railroad  land.  The  sulphuret  is 
frequently  changed  to  an  oxide  on  the  exposed  surface. 

"  Good  specular  ore  was  found  abounding  in  large  masses  in 
Sec.  5,  T.  39,  R.  11  W.,  associated  with  argillaceous  hematite. 
This  locality  is  worth  exploring. 


32  GEOLOGICAL   REPORT. 

"  Masses  of  iron  ore  were  found  at  Vienna.  In  Sec.  30, 
T.  41,  R.  7,  there  is  a  large  deposit  of  argillaceous  red  hema- 
tite, which,  I  was  told,  had  been  used  very  successfully  as  a 
dye  stuff.  It  is  easily  mined." 

But  the  localities  of  iron  ore  are  too  numerous  to  be  de- 
scribed in  detail.  The  following  table  gives  the  important 
localities  known  to  us : 


GEOLOGICAL   REPORT. 


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GEOLOGICAL  REPORT. 


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GEOLOGICAL  REPORT. 


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30  GEOLOGICAL   REPORT. 


LEAD. 

Lead  is  the  great  staple  of  the  South-west.  Some  years  ago, 
I  reported  this  one  of  the  hest  lead  regions  of  the  world.  All 
the  subsequent  developments  have  proved  the  accuracy  of  that 
estimate  of  the  mineral  treasures  of  Jasper  and  Newton  coun- 
ties. Since  that  time  many  of  the  old  localities  have  been 
more  fully  developed  with  great  success  ;  and  various  new 
mines-  have  been  explored  with  results,  in  some  cases,  still  more 
satisfactory. 

The  mines  on  Spring  river,  on  Turkey  creek,  and  in  Spur- 
geon's  prairie,  still  promise  the  most  satisfactory  returns  ;  while 
at  Granby,  on  the  northern  border  of  Oliver's  prairie,  the  re- 
sults have  been  truly  wonderful.  In  the  fall  of  1854,  there 
was  not  a  cabin  on  the  site  where  Granby  now  stands  with  sev- 
eral thousand  inhabitants ;  and  only  one  shaft  had  been  sunk 
beneath  the  soil  into  the  rich  mineral  veins,  which  are  now 
penetrated  by  thousands.  Mining  at  Granby  has  been  most 
successful,  as  is  evinced  by  the  great  number  of  miners  and 
smelters  and  merchants,  who  have  there  congregated  in  so 
short  a  time,  and  so  far  away  from  the  great  thoroughfares  of 
travel,  and  by  their  contentment  and  satisfaction  with  the  re- 
sults of  their  labors. 

Explorations  have  also  been  very  successful  in  showing  the 
existence  of  large  quantities  of  lead  in  the  northern  part  of 
Taney  county.  There  are  indeed  very  flattering  indications  of 
an  abundance  of  this  mineral  in  all  parts  of  this  county  which 
have  been  examined. 

Granby  Mines. — So  much  has  been  written  of  these  famous 
mines  that  it  would  seem  useless  to  enter  into  any  detailed  de- 
scription of  them.  The  lead  is  found  in  somewhat  regular 
leads,  or  disseminated  through  the  bed  of  chert,  clay,  sand  and 
limestone,  partially  cemented,  which  overlies  the  Mountain 
Limestone.  It  also  occurs  in  the  crevices  and  cavities  of  the 
limestone ;  and  is  very  frequently  disseminated  in  greater  or 
less  quantities  through  the  regular  crystalline  beds  of  that  rock. 

The  Sulphuret  of  Lead  or  Galena  is  the  most  abundant  ore 
of  that  metal ;  but  the  Carbonate  is  quite  common  in  a  few 
localities,  and  the  Sulphate  is  sometimes  found.  Vast  quanti- 


GEOLOGICAL  REPORT.  37 

ties  of  Galena  have  been  raised  from  these  mines  since  they 

were  opened,  not  less  than pounds.  They  often  discover 

masses  of  this  ore  so  large  that  it  is  found  somewhat  difficult  to 
raise  them  to  the  surface. 

The  statistics  of  one  shaft  will  give  an  idea  of  the  quantity 
of  ore  raised  and  the  profits  of  mining  at  this  place.  Mr.  Fra- 
zier's  shaft,  as  I  am  informed,  yields  100,000  pounds  of  galena 
per  month.  In  one  week  alone,  it  yielded  50,000,  which  at 
|20  per  thousand,  would  amount  to  $1,000  ;  deduct  $150  for 
expenses,  and  the  profits  of  this  shaft  alone  were  $850  for  that 
week  ;  they  average  about  $1400  per  month. 

The  miners,  collected  here  from  all  parts  of  the  world,  seem- 
ed to  be  agreed  that  the  Granby  Mines  are  the  best  they  have 
ever  seen.  This  opinion  of  the  miners,  the  vast  quantity  of  lead 
raised  in  so  short  a  time  and  in  a  locality  so  far  from  the  means 
of  cheap  transportation,  and  the  geological  features  of  the  coun- 
try, all  unite  in  proving  these  mines  the  most  valuable  in  the 
world. 

The  accompanying  sketch,  Plate  XVII.,  represents  a  portion 
of  Granby  as  it  appeared  in  June,  1857. 

The  Center  Creek  Mines,  in  Jasper  county,  are  situated  on 
the  boder  of  the  prairie  extending  from  Carthage  westward  to 
the  territory,  on  a  branch  leading  into  Center  creek,  in  Sec. 
36,  T.  29,  R.  33,  and  Sec.  31,  T.  29,  R.  32.  The  following- 
section  will  give  a  correct  view  of  the  geological  features  of  the 
locality : 

No.  1 — 10  to  20  feet  of  chert,  limestone  and  clay,  broken  and  mingled  promiscu. 
ously,  and  more  or  less  cemented  into  a  solid  mass.  The  limestone  is 
not  so  abundant  as  the  clay,  and  the  chert  predominates  over  both. 

No.  2 — 5  feet  of  regularly  stratified  bluish  crystalline  limestone. 

No.  3 — 10  feet  same  as  No.  1,  save  the  limestone  is  more  abundant. 

No.  4 —  (?)  of  limestone,  same  as  No.  2. 

On  the  east  side  of  the  run,  the  conglomerate  of  No.  1  is 
overlaid  by  eight  or  ten  feet  of  brown  stratified  sandstone,  which 
is  the  same  as  that  at  the  first  locality  named.  Irregular  veins 
of  galena,  very  variable  in  thickness,  cut  through  this  conglom- 
erate of  chert,  etc.,  and  through  the  limestone,  in  directions 
approaching  an  east  and  west  line,  and  varying  from  a  perpen- 
dicular to  a  horizontal.  The  galena  usually  fills  the  fissure, 
when  it  is  small,  without  any  vein  rock  or  gang  ;  but  when  the 


38  GEOLOGICAL  REPORT. 

opening  is  large,  the  sheet  of  mineral  runs  through  the  middle, 
the  space  on  each  side  being  filled  with  clay  and  crystals  of  cal- 
careous spar. 

There  are  several  diggings  at  this  place  on  the  west  side,  on 
White's  and  Conovy's  land,  at  some  of  which  numerous  shafts 
have  been  sunk,  from  ten  to  forty  feet,  and  some  drifting  done. 
The  more  important  are,  Old  Diggings,  Burnine's,  Lunday's, 
Howard's,  Harker's,  and  Thorp's  Diggings.  On  the  eastern 
side  of  the  run,  on  Mr.  Chenault's  land,  several  openings  have 
been  made. 

Of  the  mineral  raised  at  these  mines  previous  to  1854,  270,- 
000  pounds  were  sold  to  Harklerode's  furnace,  99,074  pounds 
to  Moseley  &  Co.'s  furnace,  besides  what  had  been  smelted  at 
other  places  and  that  still  remaining  at  the  mines.  I  have 
no  statistics  showing  the  amount  raised  since,  but  there  is  no 
reason  to  doubt  that  systematic  mining  in  this  locality  would 
be  very  successful. 

Late  operations  at  Reeder,  Clinton,  and  Orchard's  Diggings  ; 
at  Shrewsbury,  Orchard  &  Brother's  Diggings  ;  and  at  Shilling 
&  Co.'s  Diggings,  have  proved  very  profitable. 

Turkey  Creek  Mines. — No  facts  have  come  to  light  to  dimin- 
ish our  confidence  in  the  value  of  the  lead  deposits  in  this 
locality. 

I  have  nothing  new  to  add  respecting  Moseley  8f  Co.'s  Mines, 
and  Olivers  Prairie  Mines.  These  works  have  been  discon- 
tinued, not  however  for  want  of  a  good  prospect  of  mineral. 

Mineral  Point  Mines. — Late  operations  at  these  mines  fully 
sustain  the  high  opinion  formed  of  them  in  1854.  The  follow- 
ing description  gives  the  condition  of  these  mines  at  that  time  : 

At  Mineral  Point  are  several  diggings.  Harklerode's,  so  far 
as  I  could  judge  from  the  miners  and  the  minerals  thrown  out 
(for  the  shaft  was  full  of  water) ,  gives  great  promise  of  a  fine 
yield.  There  are  two  lodes  or  sheets  of  mineral  lying  nearly 
horizontal  in  the  Carboniferous  Limestone.  The  upper  one  is 
made  up  of  galena  and  carbonate  of  lead,  and  chert  and  clay, 
mingled  together  and  cemented,  and  is  about  one  foot  thick. 
The  lower  is  pure  galena,  from  twelve  to  eighteen  inches  thick. 
These  lodes  have  been  explored  but  a  short  distance. 


GEOLOGICAL  REPORT.  39 

At  Messrs.  Fraser  &  Cavenar's,  one  shaft,  sunk  thirty  feet, 
reached  a  horizontal  lode.  The  fissure  in  the  conglomerate  of 
chert,  etc.,  is  four  feet,  filled  with  soft  clay  and  galena.  Through 
the  middle  runs  a  sheet  of  galena  ten  inches  thick,  and  the 
space  on  each  side  is  filled  with  clay  and  large  masses  of  cog- 
mineral.  This  lode  had  been  explored  only  some  fifteen  feet. 
Other  diggings  at  Mineral  Point  are  quite  as  much  esteemed 
by  the  miners.  Mr.  Frazier  has  a  furnace  at  this  point :  about 
sixty  shafts  have  been  worked  with  success  and  profit. 

Dufs  Mines  give  good  indications  of  fine  leads  of  lead. 

Taney  County  Mines  are  in  the  Magnesian  Limestone  Series. 
All  the  geological  features  and  the  indications  of  the  mines 
opened,  indicate  the  existence  of  vast  deposits  of  lead  in  those 
parts  of  the  county  examined.  In  S.W.  qr.  Sec.  11,  T.  26, 
R.  19,  several  diggings  have  been  commenced,  with  reasonable 
indications  of  success. 

Crittenderfs  Diggings  are  in  N.E.  of  S.W.  qr.  Sec.  1,  T. 
26,  R.  19.  The  prospect  is  quite  good. 

Roberd  and  Hall's  Diggings  in  S.  hf.  of  S.W.  qr.  Sec.  6,  T. 
26,  R.  18.  Good  prospect  of  lead  in  the  upper  part  of  the  3d 
Magnesian  Limestone. 

Sheep  Diggings  is  on  top  of  the  bluffs  of  Swan  creek,  in 
S.W.  of  N.E.  of  Sec.  12,  T.  26,  R.  19.  The  mineral  at  this 
place  was  exposed  by  the  sheep.  A  vein  crosses  the  creek  a 
short  distance  south-east  of  these  diggings. 

Campbell  and  Han's  Diggings  is  on  the  80  acres  south  of 
the  last  locality. 

Bray,  Buckhart  fy  Co.*s  Mines. — Fine  prospect  of  "  float 
mineral"  in  lower  part  of  2d  Magnesian  Limestone. 

"  McFadderfs  Diggings,"  in  Sec.  1,  T.  26,  R.  19  ;  several 
shafts  have  been  sunk  with  a  good  prospect  of  success. 

Peter's  Diggings  are  located  J  of  a  mile  south-west  of  Me- 
Fadden's. 

HaWs  Mines  are  in  N.W.  of  N.W.  qr.  Sec.  15,  T.  26,  R.. 
19.  The  prospect  is  good. 


40  GEOLOGICAL  REPORT. 

Moore's  Shaft,  in  the  S.E.  qr.  Sec.  9,  T.  26,  R.  19.  Some 
lead  lias  been  raised,  and  all  the  indications  are  good. 

Goose  Diggings  are  a  short  distance  north-west  of  the  last 
locality — a  fine  prospect  of  float  mineral. 

Shawnee  Diggings,  in  N.W.  of  N.E.  qr.  Sec.  17,  T.  26,  R. 
19,  on  Shawnee  creek ;  several  shafts  have  been  sunk  and  a  few 
hundred  pounds  of  galena  taken  out  from  the  middle  of  the 
2d  Magnesian  Limestone. 

The  Mines  of  Price,  Bray  $•  Co.,  in  the  S.E.  qr.  of  Sec.  9,  T. 
26,  R.  19,  are  the  most  important  examined  in  this  county. 
About  thirty  shafts  have  been  sunk  and  some  drifting  done. 
Lead  was  found  in  all  of  them.  The  Lead  was  found  in  the 
clay,  and  in  a  crevice  in  the  limestone.  20,000  pounds  of 
galena  was  taken  from  one  shaft  only  ten  feet  deep.  The 
whole  amount  raised,  up  to  June,  1857,  was  about  170,000 
pounds.  Since  then  the  yield  has  been  still  more  encourag- 
ing. These  mines  promise  a  very  large  yield  of  excellent  ore. 
The  systematic  mining  pursued  cannot  fail  to  give  the  most 
desirable  results. 

Mr.  C.  D.  Bray,  of  this  company,  has  a  Blast  Furnace  on 
Bull  creek,  in  Sec.  6,  T.  26,  R.  19. 

In  Webster  county,  lead  has  been  discovered  in  several  lo- 
calities. The  most  important  is  Harver's  mine,  on  Lost  creek, 
in  Sec.  25,  T.  27,  R.  10. 

ABSTRACT   FROM   DR.    SHUMARD'S   REPORT. 

"  Crawford  County. — The  3d  Magnesian  Limestone  in  por- 
tions of  this  county  is  highly  galeniferous.  It  is  frequently 
characterized  by  vertical  fissures  and  caverns,  some  of  them  of 
considerable  size. 

"Lead  Mines,  Mineral  Hill,  Sec.  32,  T.  40,  R.  2  W.,  exam- 
ined by  Mr.  Englemann.  The  hill  extends  from  N.E.  of  Sec. 
32  to  the  N.E.  of  Sec.  33.  The  formation  here  is  the  3d  Mag- 
nesian Limestone,  which  is  covered  with  a  thick  deposit  of  red 
clay.  The  whole  side  of  the  hill  is  marked  with  shallow  dig- 
gings, from  which  immense  quantities  of  ore  have  been  obtained. 
These  mines  have  been  known  for  more  than  twenty  years — 
upwards  of  1,000,000  pounds  of  ore  has  been  raised  here,  and 


GEOLOGICAL  REPORT.  41 

as  many  as  500  men  have  been  engaged  in  mining  at  one  time. 
The  mining  has  all  been  confined  to  surface  diggings.  East  of 
this  place,  in  Sec.  33,  is  a  crevice  containing  a  vein  of  lead  five 
inches  thick,  adhering  in  a  vertical  sheet  to  the  Magnesian 
Limestone.  In  N.E.  of  N.E.  qr.  of  the  same  section,  lead  has 
been  raised. 

"  Williams'  Mines,  located  west  of  Mineral  Hill,  in  Sec.  32, 
T.  40,  R.  2,  were  opened  in  1851,  and  up  to  April,  1854,  the 
amount  of  ore  raised  was  202,183  pounds.  During  the  re. 
mainder  of  1854  there  were  raised  145,000  pounds.  The  course 
of  the  line  of  shafts  and  tunnels  bears  N.E.  and  S.W.  The 
mineral  was  first  procured  25  feet  below  the  surface,  and  the 
deepest  workings  were  75  feet  below  the  surface.  The  mineral 
is  found  in  fissures  of  irregular  dimensions,  varying  from  two  to 
eight  feet  in  width,  and  three  to  four  in  height.  It  occurs  in 
veins  ranging  through  red  clay,  associated  with  brown  hematite, 
pyrites  and  ochre.  These  mines  have  not  been  worked  to  any 
extent  during  the  last  three  years. 

"  Nearly  every  portion  of  Sees.  32,  33,  and  34,  T.  40,  R.  2  W., 
contains  more  or  less  lead.  In  the  N.E.  qr.  of  Sec.  1,  T.  40, 
R.  2,  there  have  been  raised  10,000  pounds  of  ore. 

"Wetti's  Diggings  are  located  in  S.E.  of  S.E.  qr.,  Sec.  3, 
T.  38,  R.  2  W.  During  the  winters  of  1856  and  1857  about 
135,000  pounds  of  ore  was  raised. 

"Murirey's  Diggings  are  situated  north  of  Wein's  Diggings, 
in  the  same  section.  A  great  deal  of  ore  has  been  obtained 
here  from  surface  diggings ;  but  no  mining  has  been  done 
lately.  On  S.E.  qr.  of  S.E.  qr.,  T.  37,  R.  2  W.,  about  200 
pounds  have  been  obtained  from  shallow  diggings. 

"Halberfs,  in  S.E.  Sec.,  T.  37,  R.  4.  In  1844  from  3,000  to 
4,000  pounds  were  obtained  here  from  surface  diggings. 

«Evam\  in  N.E.  of  Sec.  3,  T.  37,  R.  3.  In  1856  about  300 
pounds  were  obtained  from  surface  diggings. 

"Ransom's  Mines,  (examined  by  Mr.  Englemann,)  in  Sec. 
15,  T.  38,  R.  2  W.  The  ore  is  found  in  the  upper  part  of  the 
3d  Magnesian  Limestone.  The  mineral  is  supposed  to  occur  in 
horizontal  sheets,  connecting  with  pockets.  About  54,000 


42  GEOLOGICAL   REPORT. 

pounds  of  mineral  have  been  obtained  here,  but  no  regular 
mining  has  been  done. 

"Hindi's  Mines,  in  Sec.  3,  T.  38,  R.  2.  About  500  or  600 
pounds  of  ore  have  been  obtained  here.  Lead  has  also  been 
found  in  many  places  in  this  neighborhood. 

"  Trask  and  Garrison's  Mines,  near  the  middle  of  west  line 
of  Sec.  5,  T.  36,  R.  2  W.,  have  yielded  from  10,000  to  15,000 
pounds  of  mineral. 

"Isgrig's  Mines,  S.E.  of  N.E.  qr.,  Sec.  4,  T.  39,  R.  2  W. 
A  little  surface  digging  has  been  done  here. 

"  Sappington's  Mines,  N.W.  qr.,  Sec.  1,  T.  39,  R.  2,  were 
opened  in  the  spring  of  1857,  since  which  time  they  have 
yielded  55,000  pounds  of  mineral. 

"  Clark's  Mines,  in  same  section,  opened  in  1853,  have  yielded 
25,000  pounds. 

"Darby's  Mines,  also  in  same  section,  were  opened  in  1855. 
They  have  been  but  little  worked,  and  have  yielded  7,000 
pounds  of  ore.  The  last  three  mines  are  situated  on  the  same 
hill,  and  were  examined  by  Mr.  Englemann.  The  ore  occurs 
in  small  crevices  and  pockets,  in  Magnesian  Limestone,  and  dis- 
seminated as  float-mineral  in  red  clay,  and  sometimes  adher- 
ing to  masses  of  sulphuret  and  brown  oxide  of  iron. 

"Railroad  or  Coffee  Diggings  are  located  on  a  spur  of  the 
same  ridge,  in  S.W.  qr.  of  Sec.  36,  on  Pacific  Railroad  land. 
Mining  was  commenced  here  in  1857,  and  5,000  or  6,000  pounds 
have  been  raised. 

"Rutledge's  Mines,  N.E.  qr.,  Sec.  21,  T.  39,  R.  2,  have  been 
occasionally  worked  with  good  success. 

"Red  Hills  Mines,  N.E.  of  S.W.  qr.,  Sec.  23,  T.  4,  R.  2. 
About  400,000  pounds  of  lead  have  been  obtained,  mostly  from 
the  red  clay.  A  few  small  veins  have  been  discovered  in  the 
underlying  Magnesian  Limestone. 

"Hibler's  Diggings,  in  N.E.  of  N.  W.,  Sec.  35,  T.  40,  R.  2  W. 
About  10,000  pounds  of  ore  have  been  obtained.  These  mines 
have  only  been  worked  irregularly.  The  ore  occurs  in  float- 
mineral,  in  the  clay,  in  crevices  and  pockets,  and  in  the  form 
of  thin  sheets  penetrating  the  Magnesian  Limestone.  Lead  in 


GEOLOGICAL  REPORT.  43 

small  quantities  has  also  been  obtained  in  Sees.  26  and  27, 
T.  40,  R.  2  W. 

"  All  the  above  mentioned  mines  occur  in  3d  Magnesian 
Limestone.  Lead  has  also  been  found  at  many  places  in  2d 
Magnesian  Limestone,  but  only  in  small  quantities. 

"  Carbonate  of  Lead  occurs  in  small  particles  at  William's 
Mines  and  at  Mineral  Hill. 

"Phelps  County.— In  a  cave  in  Sec.  19,  T.  36,  R.  8,  lead 
occurs  in  small  quantities,  in  a  seam  of  Barytes,  extending  from 
the  entrance  back  for  a  distance  of  a  hundred  yards.  In  Sec. 
35,  T.  36,  R.  9,  a  few  pounds  of  mineral  have  been  collected. 
In  Sees.  24  and  32,  T.  39,  R.  7,  a  little  has  been  found.  At 
all  the  localities  in  this  county,  the  ore  occurs  in  the  3d  Mag- 
nesian Limestone.  In  Sec.  8,  T.  39,  R.  8,  in  Maries  County, 
Mr.  Englemann  reports  the  occurrence  of  lead  in  2d  Magne- 
sian Limestone.  In  1856,  about  350  pounds  of  mineral  were 
obtained  here,  and  on  Rocky  branch  upwards  of  2,000  pounds 
have  been  raised  during  one  season. 

"Lead  has  been  found  at  but  few  localities  in  Pulaski  County, 
and  in  small  quantities  only.  A  few  pieces  were  picked  up 
in  Sec.  6,  T.  35,  R,  13. 

"  In  La  Clede  County,  lead  was  found  in  only  one  locality, 
in  N.W.  qr.,  Sec.  5,  T.  36,  R.  16.  At  this  place  a  few  shallow 
excavations  have  been  made  in  the  3d  Magnesian  Limestone, 
and  a  few  pounds  of  the  Sulphuret  raised.  The  ore  occurs 
disseminated  through  an  impure  brown  iron  ore,  a  few  hundred 
yards  distant  from  what  appears  to  be  a  dyke  of  granite. 

"  In  Wright  County  lead  ore  has  been  observed,  in  small 
quantities,  at  several  localities  in  the  3d  Magnesian  Limestone. 
In  S.W.  qr.,  Sec.  11,  T.  29,  R.  16,  Mr.  Prock  obtained  about 
150  Ibs  of  ore.  It  occurs  in  cavities,  associated  with  calc  spar, 
in  the  Magnesian  Limestone.  Float-mineral  has  been  found  also 
in  S.E.  qr.,  Sec.  11,  and  N.E.  qr.  Sec.  23,  in  the  same  town- 
ship. On  Wood's  Fork,  about  a  mile  and  a  half  east  of  the 
Webster  county  line,  lead  occurs  in  sandy  textured  magnesian 
limestone  rock.  It  has  also  been  found  at  several  other  places 
in  the  same  strata ;  it  occurs  in  irregular  masses,  resting  in 
cavities  in  the  Magnesian  Limestone.  In  Sec.  23,  T.  29,  R.  14, 
about  10  pounds  of  mineral  have  been  found. 


44  GEOLOGICAL  REPORT. 

"  In  Jefferson  County ',  lead  occurs  at  a  number  of  localities. 

"  Gopher  Mines  are  located  on  a  high  ridge  of  2d  Magnesian 
Limestone,  in  S.E.  qr.  of  Sec.  34,  T.  41,  R.  5  E.  They  were 
worked  by  a  company,  and  have  yielded  about  120,000  pounds 
of  ore.  A  great  deal  of  heavy  and  calc  spar  was  found  mingled 
with  the  lead  at  most  of  the  shafts  and  excavations. 

"  Tarpley  Mines,  situated  in  N.E.  qr.  of  Sec.  11,  T.  38,  R.  4  E., 
have  been  fully  described  by  Dr.  Litton,  in  the  2d  Report  of  the 
Geological  Survey.  Since  his  visit,  however,  during  the  year 
1855,  about  123,000  pounds  of  ore  were  raised  at  these  mines, 
and  in  the  spring  of  1856  they  were  worked  with  eight  hands, 
and  yielded  35,000  pounds. 

"Poston  and  Tyler's  Mines,  located  in  the  west  half  of  Sec. 
11,  T.  38,  R.  4  E.,  yielded  during  the  year  1855  upwards  of 
90,000  pounds  of  ore.  According  to  Mr.  Daly,  every  part  of 
Sec.  11  contains  more  or  less  lead.  At  the  Daly  Diggings,  at 
the  head  of  the  Plattin,  60,000  pounds  of  ore  were  obtained 
from  a  single  shaft  in  1846-7. 

"Mammoth  and  Sandy  Mines  have  yielded  large  amounts 
of  lead,  and  a  particular  account  of  them  is  given  by  Dr.  A. 
Litton,  in  the  2d  Report  of  the  Geological  Survey. 

"Howe's  Diggings,  situated  in  Sees.  3  and  4,  T.  39,  R.  6  E., 
were  discovered  in  1840,  and  have  since  yielded  about  150,000 
pounds  of  ore,  most  of  which  was  obtained  from  shallow  ex- 
cavations. It  was  chiefly  smelted  at  the  furnace  at  Sandy  Mines. 

"  Yankee  Diggings,  situated  in  Sec.  6,  T.  39,  R.  6  E.  The 
ore  here  exists  in  a  fissure  whose  direction  is  nearly  north  and 
south,  and  which  contains  a  great  deal  of  heavy  and  calc  spar 
with  some  sulphuret  of  iron.  Most  of  the  ore  obtained  here 
was  from  a  shaft  about  seventy  feet  in  depth. 

"  Me  Cormick's  Diggings,  situated  about  three-fourths  of  a 
mile  south  of  Yankee  Diggings,  yielded  13,582  pounds  of  ore 
during  the  year  1855.  A  number  of  shafts  have  been  sunk 
here,  some  of  them  more  than  thirty  years  ago. 

"Lead  has  also  been  found  at  several  other  localities  in  this 
vicinity ;  on  Mr.  Berry's  land  upwards  of  500  pounds  of  ore 
have  been  raised. 


GEOLOGICAL  REPORT.  45 

"Garrity  Sf  Butcher's  Diggings,  in  Sec.  12,  T.  38,  R.  4  E., 
have  not  been  worked  for  some  years,  but  are  regarded  as  being 
excellent  mines. 

"  Bisch  Sf  Daly's  Mines,  located  in  Sec.  7,  T.  38,  R.  5  E. 
One  shaft  has  been  sunk  here  to  the  depth  of  eighty  feet,  and  a 
considerable  quantity  of  lead  obtained. 

"Bogy's  Diggings,  located  in  E.  hf.  of  S.W.  qr.  of  Sec.  12, 
T.  38,  R.  4,  have  yielded  considerable  lead,  but  workings  have 
been  suspended  here  for  several  years. 

"Lee's  Diggings,  directly  south  of  Mammoth  Mines,  in  Sec. 
13,  T.  39,  R.  3  E.,  were  wrought  to  some  extent  about  twenty 
years  ago,  but  nothing  has  been  done  here  recently. 

"Robinson's  Diggings  are  located  in  Sec.  16,  T.  39,  R.  4  E. 
In  Sec.  10,  T.  39,  R.  4,  on  land  owned  by  Gen.  Hunt,  about 
50,000  pounds  of  ore  have  been  raised. 

"  Kelly's  Diggings,  in  Sec.  5  of  same  T.  and  R.,  have  yielded 
considerable  amounts  of  lead. 

"  Frissel's  Mines,  situated  in  N.W.  qr.  of  Sec.  30,  T.  40, 
R.  3  E.  According  to  Mr.  Frissel  these  mines  were  discovered 
in  1842,  and  they  have  yielded  125,000  pounds  of  mineral,  of 
which  amount  100,000  pounds  were  raised  during  the  years 
1842-3.  They  have  not  been  wrought  to  any  extent  for  sev- 
eral years. 

"  Nashville  Mines,  in  N.E.  qr.  of  Sec.  33,  T.  40,  R.  3  E., 
have  been  worked  at  intervals  since  1827,  and  have  yielded  up 
to  the  present  time  about  100,000  pounds  of  ore. 

"  Gray's  Mines,  located  in  Sec.  4,  T.  39,  R.  3  E.,  were  dis- 
covered nearly  forty  years  ago,  and  have  been  worked  at  inter- 
vals up  to  the  present  time.  A  few  shafts  have  been  sunk 
here,  but  most  of  the  lead  has  been  obtained  from  surface  dig- 
gings. The  ore  was  formerly  smelted  on  the  spot  by  means 
of  a  log  furnace,  the  remains  of  which  are  still  to  be  seen. 

"  Rocky  Diggings,  are  situated  in  S.E.  qr.  of  Sec.  5,  T.  38, 
R.  5  E.  Some  lead  has  been  obtained  here,  but  these  mines 
have  not  been  worked  for  several  years. 

"  Miller's  Diggings,  situated  in  the  same  section  as  Rocky 
Diggings,  are  yielding  lead  in  small  quantity." 


46  GEOLOGICAL   REPORT. 

Mr.  Broadhead  reports  the  following  from  Maries  county : 
"In  S.E.  qr.  of  Sec.  20,  T.  41,  R.  11  W.,  fragments  of  lead 
were  found  associated  with  Sulphate  of  Baryta.  Only  a  few 
pounds  have  been  found  here,  and  no  mining  has  been  done. 
The  rocks  here  are  the  lower  beds  of  the  2d  Magnesian  Lime- 
stone. 

"In  N.W.  qr.  of  Sec.  34,  T.  40,  R.  11,  about  100  pounds  of 
lead  have  been  taken  out.  It  occurs  in  a  vertical  opening  be- 
tween the  walls  of  2d  Magnesian  Limestone.  The  walls  are 
about  four  feet  apart  and  the  course  of  the  fissure  nearly  east 
and  west,  a  little  N.E.  and  S.W.  The  lead  occurs  with  iron 
ore.  I  was  told  that  there  were  too  thin  vertical  sheets  of  iron 
ore  with  lead  between." 

Franklin  County. — There  has  been  no  opportunity  for  exam- 
ining the  mines  in  this  county  since  1845  ;  but  it  is  known  that 
many  new  and  important  localities  of  lead  have  been  discover- 
ed since  that  time ;  and  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  long 
cherished  confidence  in  the  richness  and  extent  of  its  lead 
deposits,  will  be  fully  sustained.  When  capitalists  are  pre- 
pared to  enter  upon  wise  and  systematic  mining,  many  of  the 
localities  can  be  worked  with  great  profit.  The  most  reliable 
information  respecting  many  of  these  mines  may  be  derived 
from  the  following — 

ABSTRACT   FROM   DR.    LITTON's   REPORT   OF   1854. 

"  Golconda  Mines,  in  Township  43,  R.  IE.,  Sec.  8.  The  first 
digging  was  done  here,  probably,  in  1830.  The  mineral  was 
found  here  at  first  in  the  clay,  and  for  the  first  two  years  most 
of  the  mining  was  limited  to  this.  In  sinking  down,  a  fissure 
was  discovered  ;  the  course  of  which  is  N.  10°  or  15°  E.  The 
greatest  width  of  this  fissure  is  three  feet.  At  a  point,  south 
from  the  shafts,  and  distant  400  yards,  the  fissure  is  visible,  and 
has  at  that  point  a  width  of  two  or  three  inches.  Seven  shafts 
have  been  sunk  on  this  fissure,  the  deepest  of  which  is  eighteen, 
and  the  shallowest  twelve  feet.  The  fissure  is  filled  with  clay, 
mineral  and  calc  spar. 

"  To  the  east  of  this  fissure,  and  distant  from  it  but  a  few  feet, 
is  another,  with  nearly  the  same  course,  and  having,  in  some 
points,  a  width  of  four  feet.  From  it,  also,  has  been  obtained 


GEOLOGICAL  REPORT.  47 

galena.     These  fissures  are   in  the   second   magnesian   lime- 
stone. 

"  Under  a  new  lease,  parties  again  commenced  working  here 
last  May,  and  with  two  hands  and  a  working  time  of  not  over 
four  months,  they  report  to  have  obtained  12,000  pounds  of 
mineral.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  party  now  engaged  will 
sink  their  shafts  deeper,  and  properly  explore,  by  drifting  and 
stoping,  this  deposit,  for  it  presents  strong  indications  of  a 
perpendicular  lode. 

'•  Valle  and  Skewes'  Mines. — These  are  the  Cove  Mine  and 
Short  Lode,  on  the  north,  and  the  Mount  Hope  Mine,  on  the 
south  side  of  the  Meramec. 

"  The  Cove  Mine  and  the  Short  Lode  are  in  township  42  N., 
R.  IE.,  Sec.  22,  N.W.  qr.  They  are  on  the  side  of  a  high 
ridge,  the  height  of  which  is  about  200  feet  above  the  level  of 
the  valley.  This  ridge  is  capped  with  about  fifty  feet  of  sand- 
stone, the  lower  portion  of  which  is  interstratified  with  magne- 
sian limestone,  and  beneath  which,  so  far  as  explored,  are 
heavy-bedded  magnesian  limestones,  intermixed  with  chert  and 
quartz. 

"At  the  Cove  Mine,  the  galena  in  found  in  a  vertical  fissure, 
whose  average  width  is  not  over  six  inches,  the  course  of  which 
is  N.  5°  E.,  and  with  a  slight  inclination  of  seven  inches  to  the 
fathom  to  the  east.  This  fissure  has  never  yet  been  found  to 
widen  out  much  over  the  above  average  width,  but  preserves  a 
nearly  uniform  course  and  width,  so  far  as  explored.  This  fis- 
sure is  sometimes  filled  entirely  with  galena ;  at  other  points, 
this  is  accompanied  by  heavy  spar  and  calc  spar ;  and  some- 
times these  last,  with  clay,  fill  it  completely. 

"  The  main  shaft  is  about  150  feet  deep,  at  the  head  of  which 
is  a  fine  exposure  of  sandstone  that  extends  up  to  the  top  of  the 
ridge.  South  of  this,  sixty  feet,  is  the  bluff  shaft,  132  feet 
deep  ;  and  south  of  this  are  three  other  shafts,  varying  from 
eighty-eight  to  fifty  feet  in  depth,  and  distant  from  each  other 
from  thirty  to  fifty-eight  feet. 

"  South  of  main  shaft,  three  levels  have  been  run,  connecting 
with  the  different  shafts  ;  and  north,  but  two  have  been  cut,  at 
a  depth  from  each  other  of  101  feet  into  the  hill,  and  extend 
ing  northwardly  to  a  distance  from  the  main  shaft  of  over  200 


48  GEOLOGICAL   REPORT. 

feet.  Much  of  the  ground  has  been  stopped  away  from  main 
shaft,  south  to  the  Scott  shaft,  between  the  first  and  second 
levels,  and  also  between  the  same  levels,  north  of  the  main  shaft. 
Above  the  first  level,  and  north  of  the  main  shaft,  the  fissure  has 
been  followed  up  into  the  sandstone,  and  has  been  found  well 
filled  with  mineral,  which,  at  the  time  of  my  visit,  was  yielding 
a  large  quantity  of  galena.  This  is  not  an  unimportant  part, 
for  though  the  results  of  observation  in  other  mining  countries 
would  teach  us  to  anticipate  a  change  in  the  character  and  pro. 
ductiveness  of  a  vein,  in  passing  from  one  rock  into  another 
of  a  totally  different  character,  here,  at  least,  is  one  fact  tend- 
ing to  show  that  the  presence  of  sandstone  was  not  incompati- 
ble with  the  deposition  of  the  galena,  and  that,  perhaps,  it  is  a 
too  hasty  generalization  to  conclude  that  our  lead  deposits  are 
only  productive  within  the  limits  of  the  magnesian  limestones. 
The  mineral  is  remarkably  pure,  and  among  the  many  speci- 
mens examined  I  found  no  intermixture  with  other  ores. 

"  East  of  Cove  Mine  120'  yards,  and  on  the  same  ridge,  is 
another  fissure  called  the  Negro  Lode.  On  it  have  been  sunk, 
on  the  south  side,  three  or  four  shafts,  the  deepest  of  which  is 
fifty  or  sixty  feet.  Its  course  is  nearly  N.  10°  W.  But  little 
work  has  been  done  by  the  present  proprietors. 

"  Two  hundred  feet  east  of  the  Negro  Lode  is,  apparently, 
another  fissure,  and  running  nearly  parallel  with  it.  Nothing 
has  been  done  towards  exploring  it,  excepting  to  dig  some  few 
shallow  shafts  on  the  hill  side.  It  is  called  the  Scott  Lode. 

"  Short  Lode. — This  lode  is  300  feet  east  of  the  Scott,  about 
280  yards  east  of  the  Cove  Mine,  and  on  the  same  hill  with 
them.  The  lead  is  found  here  in  fissure,  that  varies  from  one 
inch  to  two  and  a  half  feet  in  width.  Its  course  is  nearly  north 
and  south,  being  nearly  parallel  with  the  preceding.  The  fis- 
sure is  vertical,  and  contains,  in  addition  to  the  ore,  the  heavy 
spar,  which  most  frequently  accompanies  the  galena  in  this  fis- 
sure. The  lead  ore  is  accompanied,  sometimes,  by  sulphuret 
of  zinc.  Frequently,  cubes  of  the  galena  are  found  encrusted 
with  crystals  of  the  carbonate  of  lead. 

"  A  considerable  amount  of  systematic  mining  has  been  done 
here.  Three  shafts — one,  ninety  feet ;  one,  eighty-five  feet ; 
and  another  seventy-seven  feet,  have  been  sunk  :  levels  at  three 


GEOLOGICAL   REPORT.  49 

different  depths  have  been  run,  and  the  quantity  of  stoping 
has  been  considerable.  It  has  been,  and  is  still,  worked  with 
profit. 

"  On  this  ridge,  which  belongs  to  the  third  Magncsian  Lime- 
stone, are  three  or  four  fissures  passing  down  perpendicularly, 
with  a  course  varying  but  little  from  a  due  north  and  south, 
and  containing  galena  as  far  down  as  they  have  been  explored. 
They  cover  a  belt  of  about  300  yards  east  and  west,  and  though 
neither  on  the  top  nor  on  the  side  of  the  ridge  is  there  scarcely 
any  natural  indication  of  their  existence,  they  are  found,  under 
ground,  preserving  a  uniform  course  to  the  north,  and  one  has 
been  traced  and  worked  in  this  direction  nearly  300  feet. 

"  As  we  pass  directly  south  from  the  Cove  Mine,  we  travel 
through  the  valley  of  the  Meramec,  and  at  a  distance  of  about 
half  a  mile  we  come  to  a  lone,  isolated  hill,  which,  from  its 
total  disconnection  with  all  others,  and  its  solitary  appearance, 
has  been  denominated  the  Lost  Hill.  This  has  a  height  nearly 
equal  to  that  of  the  ridge  in  which  the  above  mines  are  situ- 
ated, and  in  this  it  is  reported  that  galena  has  also  been  found. 
After  leaving  the  Lost  Hill,  and  travelling  nearly  due  south, 
we  cross  the  Meramec,  and  in  the  bfuffs  on  the  south  side  we 
again  find  explorations  for  lead  ore,  nearly  on  a  due  south  line 
and  about  two  and  a  half  or  three  miles  from  Cove  Mine. 

"  Evans1  Lode* — The  first  point  we  reach  on  this  ridge,  at 
which  mining  has  been  carried  on,  is  what  is  known  by  the 
name  of  Evans'  Lode.  The  galena  is  found  here,  also,  in  a  verti- 
cal fissure,  which  has  a  width  at  some  points  of  two  feet.  Its 
course  is  nearly  north  and  south.  It  is  filled  with  clay,  sul- 
phate of  baryta  and  mineral,  and  the  galena  is  frequently  in- 
termixed with  sulphuret  and  carbonate  of  zinc.  The  mining 
here  extends  over  a  distance  of  400  feet  north  and  south,  and 
seven  shafts,  varying  from  thirty-eight  to  one  hundred  and 
twenty  feet,  have  been  sunk,  but  three  of  which,  however,  are 
connected  with  levels.  The  work  has  not  been  so  systematical 
nor  so  regular  as  at  the  preceding  mines,  and  this  it  is  reason- 
able to  suppose  would  be  the  case,  inasmuch  as  it  has  not  been 
worked  by  the  proprietor,  but  has  been  leased  to  different 
parties. 

*  See  Appendix  for  a  further  account  of  this  and  Casswell  Mine. 

4 


50  GEOLOGICAL  REPORT. 

"  By  Mr.  Evans  I  am  informed  that  it  has  yielded  about  200,- 
000  pounds  of  mineral. 

"  Mount  Hope  Mine. — Farther  south  and  almost  joining  the 
above,  and  not  improbably  a  continuation  of  it,  is  the  Mount 
Hope  Mine.  They  are  both  in  the  same  ridge,  the  geological 
character  of  which  is  the  same  as  that  of  the  Cove  Mine. 

"  The  lead  ore  is  here  also  found  in  a  vertical  fissure,  the  width 
of  which  varies  from  one  inch  to  two  feet.  Its  course  is  a  lit- 
tle east  of  north  and  west  of  south,  with  a  very  slight  inclina- 
tion to  the  east.  Sometimes  it  is  filled  entirely  with  a  sheet 
of  galena,  and  at  other  points  it  is  found  to  contain,  with  lead 
ore,  clay  and  heavy  spar.  The  ore  is  sometimes  accompanied 
with  the  carbonate  and  the  sulphuret  of  zinc. 

"  About  thirteen  shafts  have  been  sunk,  varying  from  twenty 
feet  to  one  hundred  and  thirty-three  feet  in  depth.  Most  of 
them  have  been  connected  by  levels,  and  the  mining  has  ex- 
tended over  a  line  of  nearly  800  feet,  north  and  south. 

"  Among  the  debris  brought  up  from  the  lowest  levels  at 
Mount  Hope  and  Cove  Mines  were  some  few  well-preserved 
Pleurotomaria  and  Euomphalus,  and  one  of  the  most  perfect 
of  these  last  was  almost  directly  in  contact  with  galena. 

"  The  galena  found  in  this  mine  is  accompanied,  at  some 
points,  with  the  carbonate  and  sulphuret  of  zinc. 

"The  ore  obtained  from  the  Mount  Hope,  the  Short,  and  the 
Cove  Mines,  has  been  all  smelted,  since  the  commencement  of 
operations  by  the  present  company  in  1849,  in  a  rude  rever- 
beratory  furnace  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Cove,  and  no  sepa- 
rate account  has  been  kept  of  the  yield  of  each  mine.  The 
quantity  of  lead  made  from  1849  to  October  of  the  present  year 
(1854),  according  to  the  statement  furnished  me  by  Mr.  Win. 
Skewes,  has  been  1,947,780  pounds,  all  the  ore  having  been 
obtained  from  the  above  mines  of  the  company,  and  the  greater 
part  from  Mount  Hope  Mine.  The  average  number  of  hands 
employed  has  been  between  twenty  and  twenty-five. 

"  A  blast  furnace  is  now  being  erected,  with  which  it  is  inten- 
ded to  smelt  the  very  large  quantity  of  slag  that  has  been  ac- 
cumulating since  the  company  obtained  possession  of  the  mines, 
and  which  will  increase  considerably  the  total  amount  of  lead 
obtained  from  these  mines  during  the  last  five  years. 


GEOLOGICAL   REPORT.  51 

"  Virginia  Mine. — Some  two  or  three  miles  nearly  due  south 
of  Mount  Hope  is  the  famous  Virginia  Mine,  on  the  16th  sec- 
tion, in  township  41,  and  range  1  east.  This  mine  was  discov- 
ered in  1834  or  1835,  by  Bartlett  Brundage,  and  the  fame  of 
it  soon  attracted  to  it  a  number  of  miners,  who  obtained  the 
privilege  of  working  lots  of  twenty-four  feet  in  diameter  ;  and 
during  the  first  year  of  its  discovery  the  number  engaged  in 
mining  is  supposed  to  have  been  between  200  and  300.  The 
School  Commissioners  (for  it  was  on  the  public  school  land), 
in  order  to  secure  the  rent  on  the  mineral  obtained,  determin- 
ed to  appoint  a  single  smelter,  who  should  be  responsible  for 
it ;  and  the  number  of  applicants  was  so  great,  that  they  deci- 
ded to  make  the  selection  by  the  drawing  of  lots,  when  it  fell 
to  John  Williamson,  who,  having  held  it  for  a  short  time,  sold 
to  C.  B.  and  I.  Inge  for  17,000.  They  having  retained  this 
office  until  the  autumn  of  1835  or  '36,  disposed  of  their  right 
for  $14,000  to  Mr.  Clendennin.  He  held  it  for  about  one  year, 
when  the  mineral  having  accumulated  in  such  quantities  that 
he  could  not  or  did  not  smelt  as  fast  as  it  was  brought  in  by 
the  miners,  great  dissatisfaction  was  excited,  and  the  miners 
having  rebelled  and  refused  to  furnish  him  the  mineral,  suit 
was  commenced,  the  final  termination  of  which  was  that  the 
lease  granted  to  him  was  broken.  Soon  after  a  number  of 
smelters  were  appointed  by  the  Trustees  of  the  Public  Schools, 
and  at  one  time  there  were  as  many  as  ten  log  and  three  ash 
furnaces  in  operation. 

"  In  1844,  the  Meramec  Company  obtained  a  lease  for  working 
the  mine  and  smelting  the  mineral,  with  the  understanding 
that  they  were  to  buy  the  miners'  rights  to  the  tracts  on  the 
lode.  They  commenced  operations  actively  and  energetically, 
putting  up  a  steam  engine  and  pump,  sinking  the  shafts  deeper, 
running  levels,  and  erecting  a  furnace  ;  when  one  of  the  parties 
becoming  embarrassed  in  his  mercantile  business,  and  another 
dying,  operations  were  suspended,  in  1846,  for  the  want  of 
funds;  and  since  that  time  little  or  nothing  has  been  done, 
while  the  machinery  has  been  rusting,  the  buildings  decaying, 
and  the  shafts  and  levels  been  caving  i;i. 

"The  ore  is  found  more  in  a  vertical  fissure,  whose  course  is 
nearly  due  north  and  south,  and  has  been  traced  by  diggings 
from  a  short  distance  north  of  the  Meramec,  over  a  line,  ex- 


52  .GEOLOGICAL   REPORT. 

tending  northwardly  into  the  Bennett  tract,  of  not  less  than  one 
mile  in  length.  The  fissure  varies  in  width  from  one  to  fifteen 
feet ;  and  at  one  point,  at  which  it  is  still  visible  from  the  top 
of  the  shaft,  is  not  less  than  two  feet  wide.  The  rock  is  cover- 
ed with  a  thick,  heavy  bed  of  ferruginous  clay,  the  average 
thickness  of  which  is  fifty  feet,  beneath  which  is  some  ten  or 
twelve  feet  ofeherty  limestone,  and  below  this  is  the  magnesian 
limestone.  The  fissure  is  filled  with  clay,  heavy  spar,  (some 
of  which  was  well  crystallized,  mostly,  however,  amorphous, 
with  a  light  sky-blue  color,)  and  with  galena. 

"  Prom  this  section  it  will  be  seen  that  the  shafts  sunk  were 
very  numerous ;  but,  doubtless,  before  the  possession  of  the 
mine  by  the  Meramec  Company,  most  of  them  were  sunk  with- 
out regard  to  any  system  or  regular  mining  operations.  After 
the  company  took  possession,  the  mining  was  more  systema- 
tic, and  most  of  their  labor  was  confined  to  the  neighborhood 
of  the  engine  and  north  shafts,  each  of  which  was  sunk  to  a 
depth  of  about  260  feet.  Levels  were  cut  from  north  shaft, 
both  north  and  south,  the  latter  communicating  with  Duguid 
and  Prior's  shaft.  Dr.  King,  in  his  report,  says  that  between 
engine  and  north  shaft  there  was  a  vast  cavern,  extending  from 
the  first  level  connecting  these  two  shafts,  almost  to  the  sur- 
face of  the  ground,  with  an  average  breadth  of  nearly  five  feet, 
and  from  fifty  to  one  hundred  feet  in  height,  nearly  filled  with 
pure  galena ;  and  that  in  the  engine  shaft,  at  the  depth  of  260 
feet,  the  lode  was  as  large  and  distinct  as  it  generally  was 
throughout  the  shaft. 

"Before  the  operations  of  the  Meramec  Company,  the  mining 
was  carried  on  at  different  points  by  different  parties,  acting 
without  regular  system,  and  the  one  independently  of  the 
other.  Most  of  the  mineral,  I  doubt  not,  was  then  obtained 
from  comparatively  shallow  depths.  How  much  of  this  fissure 
has  been  worked  out  along  its  course,  so  far  as  yet  explored, 
and  to  the  depth  of  the  deepest  shafts,  I  have  no  sufficient  data 
to  enable  me  to  judge  ;  but  from  the  best  information  I  have 
been  enabled  to  obtain  of  the  levels  and  the  stoping,  I  should 
deem  it  an  exaggerated  estimate  to  place  it  at  one-half. 

"  Of  the  total  amount  of  mineral  obtained  here,  it  is,  perhaps, 
impossible  at  present  to  obtain  any  true  and  accurate  state- 
ment. Dr.  King,  who  had  an  opportunity,  aboiit  ten  years  ago, 


GEOLOGICAL  REPORT.  53 

of  examining  the  books  of  the  School  Trustees,  found  the  total 
amount  on  which  rent  had  been  charged  and  paid,  to  be  4,610,- 
158  pounds  ;  but  neither  he  nor  any  one  else  supposes  that  this 
was  all  that,  up  to  that  time,  had  been  obtained. 

"  Among  all  the  estimates  I  have  obtained  from  those  who 
were  familiar  with  the  operations  at  this  mine,  there  is  none 
less  than  8,000,000  pounds  ;  some  15,000,000  pounds  ;  but  the 
majority  of  them  place  it  at  10,000,000  pounds  of  ore. 

"However  great  may  seem  the  above  estimate,  I  do  not  doubt, 
had  shafts  been  sunk  systematically,  levels  been  run  at  suita- 
ble and  required  depths,  machinery  been  erected  to  keep  the 
mine  dry,  and  the  ground  been  stoped  away  with  anything 
like  scientific  and  practical  skill,  that  the  Virginia  Mine  would 
have  been  more  productive  than  it  has  been,  and,  instead  of 
lying  idle,  would  be  still  yielding  a  handsome  interest  on  the 
investment. 

"  For  many  of  the  above  facts,  in  regard  to  the  Virginia  Mine, 
I  am  indebted  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Clarke  and  Mr.  I.  Nash  Inge. 

"  Darby's  Mine,  in  Town.  41  N.,  R.  1  W.,  Sec.  20,  S.E.  qr.— 
This  mine  was  worked  some  four  or  five  years  ago,  and,  ac- 
cording to  all  reports,  with  considerable  profit.  Operations 
were  suspended  on  account  of  the  water,  but  lately  a  new  lease 
has  been  obtained  by  Mr.  Giles,  who  is  now  engaged  in  work- 
ing it. 

"  This  mine  is  in  the  spur  of  a  magnesian  limestone  hill.  A 
shaft  has  been  sunk  fifty-two  feet  deep,  and  an  adit  cut  for  the 
purpose  of  drainage.  At  the  bottom  of  this  shaft  a  level  has 
been  run  thirty  feet,  nearly  east  and  west,  and  near  this  was 
found  a  large  cave  (denominated  by  the  miners,  chimney), 
extending  nearly  to  the  surface  of  the  hill,  and  which  was 
found  filled  with  clay,  tumbling  rock,  and  a  considerable  quan- 
tity of  mineral. 

"  The  quantity  of  water  (which  is  removed  by  pump,  worked 
by  horse  power)  is  so  great,  that  it  is  necessary  to  keep  the 
present  pump  in  constant  operation,  night  and  day  ;  and,  this 
having  been  intermitted  for  several  days  previous  to  my  visit, 
I  found  the  shaft  filled  with  water  to  nearly  the  adit  level. 

"  Specimens  of  the  mineral  seen  from  this  mine  were  tolerably 
massive,  much  of  it  crystallized  in  cubes,  the  sides  of  many  of 


54  GEOLOGICAL   REPORT. 

which  were  coated  with  crystals  of  the  carbonate  of  lead.  At 
the  bottom  of  the  shaft  were  found  considerable  quantities  of 
the  yellow  iron  pyrites,  intermixed  with  sulphuret  of  zinc. 

"Mr.  Giles  reports,  that  during  the  seven  months  he  has  been 
working,  with  the  assistance  of  seven  hands  more  than  half 
the  time,  and  during  the  remainder  with  that  of  only  four 
hands,  he  has  obtained  3,000  pounds  of  mineral.  The  estima- 
ted amounts  of  mineral,  obtained  from  this  mine,  anterior  to 
Mr.  Giles'  lease,  varies  from  100,000  to  126,000  pounds  of 
mineral. 

"  Elliott  Mine,  in  Town.  41  N.,  R.  1  W.,  Sec.  6.  This  mine 
lies  on  the  south-western  extremity  of  a  ridge,  the  course  of 
which  is  a  little  west  of  north,  and  east  of  south.  According 
to  Dr.  Shumard,  the  top  of  the  hill  is  sandstone,  beneath  which 
is  the  third  magnesian  limestone. 

"  The  only  mineral  obtained  here  has  been  from  the  clay,  on 
the  side  of  the  hill,  one  acre  of  which  is  almost  entirely  cover- 
ed with  shallow  shafts,  the  deepest  I  found  open  being  twenty- 
one  feet.  The  mineral  obtained  has  been  principally  from 
three  ranges,  the  general  course  of  which  was  N.E.  and  S.W., 
running  parallel  with  one  another,  and  distant  fifteen  to  twenty 
feet  from  each  other.  The  exposure  in  the  shafts  was  a  red- 
dish ferruginous  clay,  varying  from  twelve  to  twenty  feet,  be- 
low chert,  and  beneath  this  the  tumbling  magnesian  limestone. 
The  average  depth  of  the  shafts  is  not  over  twelve  feet,  and  the 
deepest  ever  sunk  was  forty  feet. 

"  The  mineral  is  a  very  pure  galena,  accompanied  by  neither 
calc  spar  nor  heavy  spar,  and  exhibits  not  the  least  intermixture 
with  either  iron  or  zinc  ores.  As  yet,  it  has  been  found  only 
in  the  clay  and  chert.  Work  was  commenced  here  in  June, 
1853  ;  and  since  then,  with  six  hands,  it  is  reported  that  70,000 
pounds  of  mineral  has  been  obtained. 

"  Besides  the  above,  there  are  quite  a  number  of  points  in 
Franklin  county  at  which  galena  has  been  obtained,  and,  at 
some  of  them,  in  considerable  quantities,  but  which  were  not 
worked  during  the  times  of  my  visits  to  that  county  in  1853 
and  1854.  Most  of  them  were  not  visited  ;  and  I  subjoin  a  list 
of  them,  with  the  amounts  of  mineral  which  were  reported  to 
me  as  having  been  obtained. 

"  On  the  school  section,  in  town.  42  N.,  R.  1  W.,  in  1827  and 


GEOLOGICAL  REPORT.  55 

'28,  there  had  been  considerable  digging.  The  mineral  was 
found  in  the  clay.  The  deepest  shafts  were  about  fifty  feet. 
The  diggings  extended  over  an  area  of  nearly  ten  acres,  but 
did  not  extend  down  into  the  rock.  Mr.  A.  Chambers,  who 
worked  these,  obtained  and  smelted  during  the  above  years 
40,000  pounds  of  mineral,  and  estimates  the  amount  obtained 
at  other  times,  and  hauled  to  other  furnaces,  at  25,000  pounds. 

"The  Hamilton  Mines,  Town.  42  N.,  R.  1  W.,  Sec.  31,  have 
not  been  worked  for  the  last  six  years.  The  digging  was  con- 
fined to  the  clay,  and  the  amount  of  mineral  reported  to  have 
been  obtained  was  100,000  pounds. 

"At  Massey's  Mine,  Town.  41  N.,  R.  1  W.,  Sec.  14,  one  shaft 
had  been  sunk  sixty  feet,  but  most  of  the  other  shafts  were  not 
over  twelve  feet.  Up  to  October,  1858,  Mr.  Massey  estimated 
the  amount  of  mineral  obtained  at  from  2,000  to  3,000  pounds. 
They  are  much  incommoded  by  water  at  these  diggings. 

"  Berthold  and  Generality's  Digging's  are  near  Mitchel's  creek, 
in  Sec.  13,  Town.  41  N.,  R.  1  W.  They  are  principally  on  the 
side  of  a  hill.  The  deepest  shaft  was  fifty-four  feet,  and  which 
was  filled  with  water  at  the  time  of  my  visit,  in  October,  1853. 
Mr.  Generally  gave,  as  the  total  amount  of  mineral  obtained 
here,  100,000  pounds. 

REPORTED  AMOUNT  OF  MINERAL  OBTAINED. 

Silver  Hollow  Mines,  Town.  40  N.,  R.  1  W.,  Sec.    8,  140,000  Ibs. 

Thomas'  "        Town.  41  N.,  R.  1  W.,  Sec.  32,  100,000     " 

Lolla  "        Town.  41  N.,  R.  2  W.,  Sec.  15,  60  to  100,000    " 

Wheeler  "        Town.  40  N.,  R.  1  W.,  Sec.   6  and  7,  50,000     «• 

Nick  Frank's        "        Town.  42  N.,  R.  1  W.,  Sec.  8,  S.W.  qr.  of  S.E.  qr. 
Whitmire  "        Town.  41  N.,  R.  1  W.,  Sec.  28,  60,000     " 

LEAD  FURNACES  IN  FRANKLIN. 

"  Formerly,  not  only  in  Franklin,  but  also  in  other  counties  in 
the  mining  region  of  Missouri,  only  the  log  and  ash  furnaces 
were  used.  These  have  been  gradually  replaced  everywhere, 
excepting  at  one  locality  in  Washington  county,  by  either  the 
Scotch  hearth  or  the  reverberatory  furnaces.  The  Scotch 
hearth  requires  a  blast,  hence  sometimes  called  the  blast  fur- 
nace, and  this  is  produced  either  by  water  or  horse-power,  or 
by  steam. 


56  GEOLOGICAL  REPORT. 

"  The  old  log  furnace  was  simple  in  its  construction,  and 
easily  built.  After  the  smelting  of  one  charge,  about  5,000 
pounds  of  ore,  the  furnace  was  cooled,  and  after  the  removal  of 
the  ashes,  which  were  rich  in  lead,  it  was  again  charged. 

"  When,  after  repeated  smeltings  with  the  log  furnace,  a  suffi- 
cient quantity  of  ashes  had  been  accumulated,  these  were  wash- 
ed to  separate  the  wood  from  the  mineral  ashes,  when  these 
last  were  smelted  in  an  ash  furnace. 

"  The  slag,  from  both  the  reverberatory  furnace  and  Scotch 
hearth  is  washed  and  cleaned,  and  re-smelted  in  a  slag  furnace. 

"At  present  there  are  but  three  lead  furnaces  in  operation  in 
Franklin  county. 

"Gallaher's  Furnace,  T.  41  N.,  R.  1  W.,  Sec.  19.  It  is  the 
Scotch  hearth,  and  the  blast  is  produced  by  water-power. 
This  furnace  has  been  in  operation  but  two  years.  All  the 
mineral  and  slag  smelted  here  came  from  Franklin  county,  ex- 
cepting a  lot  of  1,900  pounds.  Most  of  the  slag  came  from 
the  Virginia  Mine,  and  Hebbler  and  Chapman's  Furnace. 

"  Amount  of  lead  made  at  this  furnace,  according  to  the  state- 
ment furnished  me  by  Mr.  Gallaher,  was,  for — 

1853 700  pigs,  average  of  72  Ibs.  each 50,400 

1854 600    "          "  "  "    36,000 

"  At  the  Virginia  Mines  are  two  furnaces  ;  only  one,  however, 
has,  I  believe,  been  in  operation  since  the  Meramec  Company 
ceased  operations,  and  this  has  been  under  the  control  of 
I.  Nash  Inge. 

"  Inge's  Furnace. — According  to  the  statement  furnished  me 
by  Messrs.  Patridgc  &  Co.,  the  agents  of  Mr.  Inge,  the  follow- 
ing amounts  of  lead  were  made  at  this  furnace,  from  1849  to 
1854: 

PIGS.  POUNDS. 

1849,  from  20th  June 202,  weighed 13,574 

1850,  "  "  3,237,  "  196,744 

1851,  "  "  1,229,  "  80,606 

1852,  "  "  277,  "  18,630 

1853,  "  "  613,  "  39,989 

1854,  "  "  85,  "  5,557 

"  Voile  and  Skewes'  Furnace,  at  Cove  Mine. — At  this  fur- 
nace has  been  smelted  only  the  ore  obtained  from  the  mines  of 


GEOLOGICAL  REPORT.  57 

the  Company.     I  am  indebted  to  Mr.  William  Skewes  for  the 
following  statement  of  lead  made  at  this  furnace : 

1850, 5,000  pigs,  average  weight  of  each,  61  Ibs,  •  •  •  •  300,000 

1851, 5,000    "         "  "  "          "       ....300,000 

1852, 6,000    "         "  "  "          "       ...-360,000 

1853, 9,463    "         "  "  "          "        ...-567,780 

1854,  to  Oct.,  7,000    "         "  "  "          "        ...-420,000 

"Mr.  Skewes  believes  that  the  amount  that  will  be  made  this 
year  will  fully  equal  that  of  1853. 

"  Statement  of  the  total  amount  of  lead  made  at  the1  furnaces 
in  Franklin  county,  from  commencement  of  1850  to  October, 
1854: 

1850.        1851.  1852.  1853.  1854. 

Gallaher's  Furnace, 50,400  36,000 

Inge's  Furnace, 196,744      80,606  18,630  39,989  5,557 

Valle  and  Skewes' Furnace,  300,000  300,000  360,000  567,780  420,000 

496,744    380.606    378,630    658,169    461,557" 

There  are  many  other  localities  too  numerous  to  be  described 
even  in  the  brief  manner  thus  far  pursued.  The  accompany- 
ing table  of  mines  and  localities  will  give  some  idea  of  the  nu- 
merous localities  of  lead  already  known  in  this  district  of  coun- 
try ;  and  it  is  safe  to  conclude  that  a  small  part  only  of  what 
really  exists,  has  as  yet  been  discovered. 


58 


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GEOLOGICAL  REPORT.  67 


COPPER. 

We  observed  several  localities  in  the  South-west,  in  which 
were  found  small  quantities  of  both  the  sulplmret  and  the  car- 
bonate of  copper ;  but  none  of  them  give  evidence  sufficient  to 
justify  the  opinion  that  the  deposits  are  very  extensive. 

In  Taney  county  small  quantities  of  copper  ore  were  observed 
at  McFadden's  Mines  and  at  the  Goose  Diggings.  In  Lawrence 
county,  at  several  localities  on  the  Turnback,  this  ore  was  found 
near  the  junction  of  the  Encrinital  and  Chemung  rocks. 

Mr.  Broadhead  examined  several  localities  in  Bade  and 
Green.  The  following  is  an  abstract  of  his  report : 

REPORT   OF   LOCALITIES   EXAMINED   BY   G.  C.  BROADHEAD. 

"  Iii  Dade  county,  at  Josiah  StogdilFs,  on  S.W.  of  N.W.  qr. 
Sec.  2,  T.  30,  R.  25,  copper  ore  occurs  in  small  crystals  of  sul- 
phuret  and  particles  of  green  carbonate,  profusely  disseminated 
through  a  very  coarse  and -some  what  friable  crystalline  lime- 
stone, belonging  to  the  lower  Encrinital  beds.  Along  a  branch 
running  near,  copper  has  been  found  in  several  places.  On 
S.E.  of  N.E.  qr.  Sec.  23,  T.  30,  R.  25,  sulplmret  of  copper  is 
found,  associated  with  brown  hematite. 

"  Green  county.— On  Sec.  19,  N.W.  of  S.W.  qr.  T.  30,  R.  24, 
very  small  traces  of  copper  were  found  associated  with  calc 
spar,  and  traversing  the  lower  silicious  beds  ('  Turnback 
rocks ')  of  the  Encrinital  limestone  in  about  an  E.  and  W. 
direction. 

"At  William  Haralsorfs,  on  W.  hf.  of  Sec.  10,  T.  29,  R.  24 
W.,  a  pit  has  been  sunk  fourteen  feet  deep  through  the  lower 
beds  of  the  Encrinital  limestone.  The  ore  found  here  is  the 
sulplmret  and  green  carbonate,  in  a  gangue  of  coarse  opaque 
buff-colored  calc  spar,  adhering  to  large  crystals  of  white  sub- 
transparent  calc  spar,  the  copper  ore  more  often  occupying  the 
line  between  the  two  varieties  of  spar.  Some  mining  has  been 
done  here,  but  no  profitable  results  have  as  yet  been  derived. 
This  shaft  was  sunk  in  the  edge  of  a  valley  leading  into  the 
valley  of  Sac  river,  and  about  three-fourths  of  a  mile  from  that 
stream.  Fragments  of  copper  ore  have  been  found  at  several 
places  along  this  valley.  In  Sec.  23  T.  40,  R.  9  W.,  in  Maries 


68  GEOLOGICAL   REPORT. 

county,  some  explorations  for  copper  have  been  made  ;  but 
proving  unprofitable,  the  mining  was  abandoned.  A  very  little 
copper  ore  was  found  here,  associated  with  iron  pyrites  and 
hematite  and  dog-tooth  spar.  The  mining  extended  through 
red  clay,  into  the  softer  beds  of  the  underlying  3d  Magnesian 
limestone." 

ABSTRACT   FROM   DR.    B.    F.    SHUMARD'S   REPORT. 

"  The  copper  mines  of  Crawford  county  have  not  been 
worked  for  some  years.  Dr.  H.  King  examined  them  at  the 
time  they  were  being  worked,  from  whose  report  we  largely 
avail  ourselves. 

"Hindi's  Copper  Mines,  on  the  side  of  a  high  hill,  near  the 
center  of  Sec.  4,  T.  38,  R.  2  W.  This  mine  was  discovered  in 
1849,  and  several  thousand  pounds  of  ore  have  been  raised 
here.  According  to  Dr.  King,  the  ore,  near  the  surface,  is  a 
carbonate  and  oxide,  but  deeper  it  assumes  the  character  of  a 
sulphuret  of  excellent  quality.  Dr.  King  states  that  800  Ibs. 
of  ore  produced  273  Ibs.  of  good  pig  copper.  The  holes  or 
shafts  have  been  sunk  chiefly  in  loose,  red  clay  and  commi- 
nuted chert,  but  the  walls  of  some  of  them  are  in  the  Magne- 
sian limestone.  The  copper  ore  was  found  with  brown  hematite 
in  small  fragments  disseminated  through  the  clay  and  filling 
fissures  in  sandstone.  Small  scales  of  native  copper  were  found 
occasionally  with  the  carbonate  and  oxide. 

"  Mr.  Engelmann  states  that  very  little  has  been  done  here 
toward  investigating  the  real  character  of  this  mine,  owing  to 
the  very  irregular  manner  in  which  the  work  has  been  car- 
ried on. 

"Rives'  Copper  Mine,  in  N.E.  qr.  Sec.  13,  T.  39,  R.  3  W. 
The  formation  here  is  the  cherty  portion  of  the  3d  Magnesian 
Limestone  and  2d  Sandstone.  This  mine  was  worked  to  some 
extent  in  1849,  and  many  pits  were  sunk  through  the  super- 
ficial deposits.  According  to  Dr.  King's  report,  some  twelve 
or  fifteen  holes  were  sunk,  and  more  or  less  copper  in  some 
condition  was  found  in  nearly  all  of  them.  On  the  west  side 
of  the  hill,  at  a  depth  of  about  twenty  feet,  a  mass  of  ore  was 
struck  several  feet  in  thickness,  or  which  was  penetrated  to  this 
extent  without  passing  through  it.  Dr.  King  further  states 
that  a  <  large  pile,  probably  some  hundred  thousand  pounds  of 


GEOLOGICAL  REPORT.  69 

this  ore,  was  brought  to  the  surface,  where  it  has  since  been  left 
exposed  to  the  rains  and  atmospheric  influences.'  It  is  chiefly 
an  oxide  and  sulphuret  of  iron  and  copper,  but  not  very  rich 
in  the  latter  mineral. 

"  In  most  of  the  other  shafts  sunk  at  this  mine,  the  ore  was 
found  in  the  state  of  green  carbonate ;  but  this  was  generally 
in  a  deposit  of  fragmentary  chert. 

"  Dr.  King  arrives  at  the  conclusion  that  this  would  be  an 
extremely  valuable  copper  mine  if  properly  worked. 

"  Copper  Hill. — No  work  has  been  done  here  since  Dr.  Lit- 
ton examined  it. 

"Bleeding  Hill,  in  S.W.  of  N.W.  qr.  Sec.  4,  T.  38,  R.  2  W., 
was  examined  by  Mr.  Engelmann.  A  few  shallow  shafts  have 
been  sunk  here,  chiefly  through  red  clay  and  chert. 

"  The  ore  is  found  in  small  fissures  in  2d  Sandstone,  and 
consists  of  green  and  blue  carbonate,  sulphuret,  and  some 
scales  of  virgin  copper,  commingled  with  a  great  deal  of  earthy 
brown  hematite.  No  systematic  mining  has  been  done  here, 
but  much  useless  labor  has  been  spent. 

"In  Sec.  22,  T.  40,  R.  2  W.,  some  excavations  have  been 
made,  but  only  small  fragments  of  blue  and  green  carbonate 
have  been  found.  A  few  pieces  have  also  been  found  on  Huzza 
and  Crooked  creeks. 

"  Copper,  in  small  quantities,  was  found  in  Phelps  county,  in 
the  lead  cave  on  Piney,  above  mentioned. 

"  In  Sec.  23,  T.  28,  R.  16,  in  Wright  county,  Mr.  Hough 
found  small  particles  of  green  carbonate  of  copper  disseminated 
through  the  calcareous  spar  which  here  abounds  in  the  Magne- 
sian  limestone." 

EXTRACT   FROM   DR.    LITTON'S   REPORT. 

"  Stanton  Copper  Mine,  T.  40  N.,  R.  2  W.,  Sec.  2,  where 
mining  was  commenced  by  the  present  company,  in  1851,  and 
has  been  continued  to  the  present  date,  without  interruption. 

"  This  mine  is  in  the  spur  of  a  ridge,  the  course  of  which  is 
aboii  t  N.,  70°  E.,  terminating,  at  its  eastern  extremity,  in  a 
valley.  In  most  places,  this  ridge  is  covered  with  soil,  with  now 
and  then,  on  its  top  and  sides,  an  exposure  of  rock.  As  we 
pass  from  its  eastern  extremity,  along  the  top  of  it,  we  find  no 
other  rock  than  Magnesian  Limestone,  in  place,  until  within 


70  GEOLOGICAL   REPORT. 

300  yards  of  the  range  of  the  shafts,  where  Sandstone  is  found 
both  on  the  top  and  sides.  At  the  eastern  extremity  of  the 
ridge,  the  Magnesian  Limestone  is  almost  perfectly  horizontal, 
with  no  perceptible  dip,  until  it  approaches  the  Sandstone,  when 
it  is  seen  dipping  down  for  a  short  distance,  at  an  angle  of  ten 
or  fifteen  degrees,  to  the  west.  This  Sandstone  continues  west 
for  about  600  feet,  visible  at  points,  both  on  the  top  and  sides 
of  the  ridge  ;  but  no  other  rock  was  seen  (excepting  on  the 
south  side,  and  near  its  base,  where  Dr.  Shuniard  measured  a 
brecciated  mass,  eighteen  feet  high,  consisting  of  chert  and 
Magnesian  Limestone,  until  passing  a  short  distance  west  of  the 
range  of  shafts,  where  the  Magnesian  Limestone  was  again  vis- 
ible, with,  at  first,  a  dip  of  ten  or  fifteen  degrees  to  the  east ; 
but  a  short  distance  further  west,  on  the  same  ridge,  it  was 
horizontal.  In  the  Sandstone,  whether  exposed  on  the  ridge,  or 
examined  in  the  driftings,  I  found  no  appearance  of  stratifica- 
tion. The  surface  of  the  ridge  is  so  covered  with  soil,  that  it 
is  impossible  to  examine  the  eastern  and  western  junctions  of 
the  Sandstone,  with  the  Magnesian  Limestone  ;  but  I  infer,  from 
examination  of  the  driftings  in  the  mine,  that  the  western  junc- 
tion is  irregular,  with  a  general  course  across  the  ridge  of  about 
N.,  20°  "W. ;  and  that  along  this  line,  there  is,  in  all  probability, 
a  space,  for  some  distance  beneath  the  surface,  filled  witli  the 
debris  of  the  two  rocks. 

"  Most  of  the  mining  done  has  been  in  a  space,  irregular,  so 
far  as  explorations  have  shown,  the  direction  of  which  is  across 
and  extending  below  the  base  of  the  ridge,  and  with  a  general 
course  of  about  north,  twenty  degrees  west,  and  of  an  estimated 
width  of  from  forty  to  sixty  feet,  bounded  on  the  east  by  Sand- 
stone, and  on  the  west  by  Magnesian  Limestone.  This,  so  far 
as  explored,  is  found  filled  with  tumbling  rock,  clay,  chert, 
calc  spar  (semi-crystalline,  and  colored  red  by  peroxide  of  iron), 
masses  of  iron  ore  and  copper  ores. 

"  From  the  vertical  section,  it  will  be  seen  that  there  are  five 
shafts,  the  deepest  of  which  (engine  shaft)  is  115  feet,  and  in 
which  is  the  pump,  worked  by  a  steam  engine.  In  sinking  it, 
tumbling  rock,  of  a  magnesian  character,  was  found  through 
its  entire  depth,  and  it  is  cribbed  from  top  to  bottom.  This 
shaft  is  connected  by  a  level,  145  feet  in  length,  with  a  shaft 
ninety  feet  deep,  north  of  it,  and  thus  connecting  with  the  main 
works  in  the  north  hill.  At  the  time  of  my  last  visit  this  level 


GEOLOGICAL   REPORT.  71 

extended  no  farther  than  this  shaft ;  but,  since  then,  it  has  been 
run  northwardly,  the  depth  of  about  fifty  feet  below  all  preced- 
ing drif tings  ;  and,  as  I  am  informed  by  one  of  the  company, 
with  good  success  and  fine  prospects.  Levels  have  been  run 
into  the  north  hill,  from  both  the  north  and  south  sides ;  but 
most  of  the  driftings  have  been  fifty  feet  below  these,  and  above 
which  driftings,  only  (as  represented  on  the  vertical  section), 
the  ground  has  been  stoped  away. 

"  The  copper  ores  found  here  are  a  mixture  of  the  gray  sul- 
phuret  and  the  green  carbonate.  Two  analyses  of  a  specimen, 
which  was  richer  than  the  average  run,  gave  the  following 

results : — 

I.  II. 

Silica, 1-16  1-29 

Sulphur, 2-02  2-10 

Peroxide  of  iron, 12-85  12-20 

Oxide  of  copper, 61-16  60-16 

Carbonic  acid,  water  and  loss, 22-81  24-25 

Giving,  as  the  mean  of  the  two  determinations,  48-41  per  cent,  of  copper. 

"  The  furnace  for  smelting  the  ore  is  distant  from  the  mine 
about  one  mile,  where  there  is  an  abundance  of  water  during 
the  whole  year,  for  washing  the  ores,  and  supplying  a  blast  for 
the  furnace  during  eight  months  in  the  year.  For  this  last 
purpose,  however,  the  company  have  lately  erected,  at  this 
point,  a  steam  engine,  and  are  now  enabled  to  continue,  at  all 
seasons,  their  smelting  operations.  They  are  now  engaged  in 
smelting  a  large  quantity  of  copper  ore  that  has  accumulated 
during  the  present  year,  and  which,  it  is  estimated,  will  pro- 
duce thirty  tons  of  copper  ;  that,  added  to  the  twenty  or  thirty 
tons  previously  made,  will  make  the  total  amount  of  copper 
made  here,  since  the  commencement  of  operations,  in  1851, 
about  fifty  tons. 

"  During  the  first  year  of  the  operations  of  the  Company, 
there  was  but  little  mining,  most  of  the  labor  having  been  ex- 
pended in  erecting  the  furnace ;  and  the  average  number  of 
hands  was  not  over  six.  During  1852,  the  average  number  of 
hands  was  about  ten ;  and,  at  present,  there  are,  probably, 
twenty  or  twenty-five  in  the  employ  of  the  company." 

The  owners  deserve  great  credit  for  the  energy  with  which 
they  prosecuted  the  exploration  of  this  mine,  to  prove  the  char- 
acter of  this  and  other  copper  deposits  in  the  State. 


72 


GEOLOGICAL   REPORT. 


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GEOLOGICAL   REPORT. 


ZINC. 

Sulphuret  of  Zinc  is  very  abundant  in  nearly  all  the  mines 
in  South-western  Missouri,  particularly  in  those  mines  in  New- 
ton and  Jasper,  in  the  Mountain  Limestone.  The  Carbonate 
and  the  Silicate  occur  in  the  same  localities,  though  in  much 
smaller  quantities.  The  ores  of  Zinc  are  also  found  in  greater 
or  less  abundance  in  all  the  counties  on  the  South-western 
Branch ;  but  the  distance  from  market,  and  the  difficulties  in 
smelting  the  most  abundant  of  these  ores,  the  Sulphuret,  have 
prevented  the  miners  from  appreciating  its  real  value. 

It  often  occurs  in  such  large  masses  as  to  impede  very  ma- 
terially the  progress  of  mining  operations.  For  this  reason, 
Black  Jack  is  no  favorite  with  the  miners  of  the  South-west. 
Many  thousand  tons  have  been  cast  aside  with  the  rubbish  as  so 
much  worthless  matter;  but  the  completion  of  the  South-western 
Branch  will  so  lessen  the  cost  of  transportation,  as  to  give  a 
market  value  to  this  ore,  and  convert  into  valuable  merchan- 
dise the  vast  quantities  of  it,  which  could  be  so  easily  obtained 
in  Jasper,  Newton,  and  other  counties  of  the  South-west. 

COAL. 

There  are  but  few  localities  of  this  valuable  mineral  west 
of  St.  Louis  county  ;  and  those  which  do  occur,  are  but  unim- 
portant outliers,  very  limited  in  extent  and  of  ordinary  quality. 
The  beds  in  St.  Louis  county  arc  extensive  and  very  valuable. 
At  its  western  terminus,  this  road  again  approaches  the  great 
western  coal  field,  whose  south-eastern  boundary  passes  down 
through  Yernon  and  Barton  counties,  into  the  territory  west 
of  Jasper,  and  thence  south-west  into  Arkansas. 

The  western  terminus,  therefore,  of  this  road,  like  the  eastern, 
is  near  very  extensive  and  valuable  coal  beds,  over  which  the 
road  must  pass,  if  continued  westward,  beyond  our  State.  Coal 
must  ever  be  abundant  and  cheap  on  a  road  whose  extremities 
are  so  near  two  inexhaustible  coal  fields. 


74 


GEOLOGICAL   REPORT. 


LOCALITIES    OF    COAL. 


Name  of 
Mine. 

^ 

X 

1X1 

C 
£ 

Range. 

Sectiou. 

County. 

?y 

whom 
reported. 

Remarks. 



45 
47 

36 

36 

38 

6&7E. 
6  &7 

4  W. 

4 
6  W. 



St.  Louis  • 
St.  Louis  • 

Crawford 

Crawford 
Phelps-.. 

Shumard 
Shumard 

Shumard 

Shumard 
Shumard 

Many  of  the  townships 
within  this  county  are 
<     underlaid  hy  the  Coal 
Measures.  Many  mines 
are  worked. 
(  Not  now  worked.     Im- 
?    pure  coal  that  contains 
(    too  much  Iron  pyrites. 
(  Contains  too  much  Iron 
(    pyrites. 
(  Canriel  coal.    Too  much 
{    pyrites. 

Samuel  Massey 

S.E.21 

S.E.30 
S.  9 

TIMBER. 

The  broad,  rich  bottoms  of  all  the  streams  on  the  line  of  this 
road,  sustain  a  very  heavy  growth  of  most  excellent  timber  of 
nearly  all  the  most  useful  varieties.  Bur,  red,  laurel,  pin,  and 
swamp  white  oaks  ;  black  and  white  walnuts ;  white,  blue  and 
black  ashes  ;  white,  red  and  wahoo  elms  ;  red  birch,  honey  lo- 
cust, buck-eye,  box  elder,  black  cherry,  hackberry,  pignut  and 
common  and  thick  shellbark  hickories,  red  bud,  sugar  and  white 
maples,  mulberry,  American  plum,  hazle,  pawpaw,  sycamore, 
muscadine,  summer  and  fox  grapes,  and  several  species  of 
thorn  and  willow,  are  most  abundant. 

The  slopes  and  some  of  the  high  lands  are  covered  with  heavy 
forests  of  nearly  all  the  trees  found  in  the  bottoms  ;  while  other 
portions  of  the  high  lands  produce  a  medium  growth  of  white, 
black,  Spanish,  post  and  chestnut  oaks,  shellbark  hickory,  su- 
machs, hazles  and  grapes.  But  a  still  larger  part  is  sparsely  tim- 
bered with  small  black-jacks,  post  oaks,  and  black  hickories, 
forming  the  beautiful  oak-openings  of  the  south-west.  This 
stunted  growth  is  not,  however,  due  to  the  poverty  of  the  soil, 
but  to  the  fires  which  have  annually  overrun  this  country  since 
the  earliest  dates  of  the  Indian  traditions.  These  fires,  fed  by 
the  rank  annual  growth  of  grasses  and  other  herbaceous  plants, 
have  entirely  destroyed  some  of  the  young  trees,  while  they 
have  scorched  and  very  much  retarded  the  growth  of  those  suf- 
ficiently vigorous  to  withstand  their  ravages. 


GEOLOGICAL  EEPORT.  75 

Large  areas,  particularly  those  underlaid  by  sandstones,  are 
covered  by  very  extensive  and  valuable  forests  of  the  yellow 
pine.  These  pine  forests  are  very  extensive  in  McDonald. 

The  spontaneous  growth  of  the  Osage-orange  in  the  south- 
west, proves  its  adaptation  to  the  climate  and  soil,  and  indi- 
cates its  fitness  for  hedges  in  that  region. 

ABSTRACTS   FROM   DR.  B.  F.  SHUMARD'S   REPORT. 

"  Crawford  County. — The  valleys  of  the  larger  streams  are 
frequently  heavily  timbered  with  white  and  bur  oak,  white  and 
black  walnut,  white  and  sugar  maple,  shellbark  hickory,  paw- 
paw, dogwood,  linden  or  basswood,  grape  and  haw.  On  the 
higher  uplands,  between  the  rough  ridges  skirting  the  streams, 
we  frequently  find  extensive  tracts  of  level,  post  and  black 
oak,  and  hickory  lands.  In  Sec.  16,  T.  36,  R.  4  W.,  there  is 
a  pinery. 

"Phelps  County. — The  valleys  of  the  larger  streams,  Little 
Piney,  Spring  creek,  Dry  Fork  of  the  Meramec  and  Bourbeuse, 
are  in  general  very  heavily  timbered  with  white  and  bur  oak, 
shellbark  and  pignut  hickory,  white  and  black  walnut,  sugar 
and  white-leafed  maple,  dogwood,  linden,  hackberry,  honey 
locust,  cottonwood,  thorn,  and  several  varieties  of  grape. 

"Pulaski  County. — The  valleys  of  the  Gasconade,  Big  Piney 
river,  and  Robideaux  and  Spring  creek,  sustain  a  heavy  growth 
of  white,  bur  and  scarlet  oak,  white  and  sugar  maple,  shell- 
bark  hickory,  white  and  slippery  elm,  dogwood,  cottonwood, 
ash,  linden,  elder,  grape,  hackberry,  and  white  and  black  wal- 
nut. The  hills,  also,  in  the  vicinity  of  the  larger  streams  are 
heavily  timbered. 

"La  Clede  County. — The  bottoms  of  the  larger  streams  sup- 
port a  heavy  growth  of  the  finest  kind  of  timber.  On  the  up- 
land, "  post  oak  flats  "  we  find  post  and  white  oak,  and  black- 
jack and  black  hickory." 

ABSTRACTS   FROM   MR.    BROADHEAD'S   NOTES. 

"  The  hills  near  the  Gasconade  river  are  well  timbered,  also 
between  Little  Tavern  and  Sugar  creek,  and  between  Dry  creek 
and  Clifty  creek,  consisting  mostly  of  white  and  post  oak,  and 


76  GEOLOGICAL   REPORT. 

black  oak.  There  is  also  a  fine  timbered  tract  adjacent  to  Lane's 
prairie,  and  we  there  find  laurel  oak,  shellbark  and  pignut 
hickories,  mulberry,  black  walnut,  red  and  white  elm,  plum, 
sassafras,  ash,  and  grape  vines. 

"  But  the  best  timbered  lands  we  find  along  the  larger 
streams,  including  the  Gasconade  with  Big  and  Little  Maries, 
and  Dry  Fork  of  Bourbeuse,  where  we  find  bur,  laurel,  red, 
rock  chestnut,  swamp  white  oak,  with  shellbark  and  pignut 
hickory,  hackberry,  black  and  white  walnut,  American  and  red 
elm,  sycamore,  linden,  red  bud,  pawpaw,  and  grape. 

"  There  is  not  so  much  nor  such  fine  timber  on  the  smaller 
streams  (Little  Tavern,  Spring  creek,  Sugar  creek,  Cave  Spring 
and  Dry  creek),  but  there  is  still  some  fine  timber  on  them. 
We  find  pignut  hickory,  chinquapin  oak,  rock  chestnut  oak, 
with  sometimes  laurel  and  white  oak;  also  hazle,  American  elm, 
red  elm,  alder,  ironwood,  hornbeam,  red  bud,  pawpaw,  and  the 
muscadine  grape  frequently  abounds  ;  found  the  muscadine  on 
Dry  creek  and  the  smaller  streams  flowing  into  the  Gasconade. 
On  Cave  Spring  creek  and  Dry  creek  found  gum  trees." 

In  short,  the  timber  of  this  part  of  the  State  is  good  and  suf- 
ficiently abundant  to  supply  all  the  demands  of  a  dense  and 
industrious  population.  The  various  kinds  of  trees  and  shrubs 
observed,  are  shown  by  the  following  catalogue. 

TREES    AND    SHRUBS. 
ALDER. 

Common  Alder  (Alms  serulata).  On  streams  in  Newton, 
Lawrence  and  Taney  counties ;  also  on  the  tributaries  of  the 
Gasconade  river,  in  Maries  county. 

Black  Alder  or   Winter-Berry.     In  wet  land  and  wooded 

bottoms. 

APPLE. 

Crab  Apple  (Malus  coronaria).     Bordering  rich  prairies. 

ASH. 

White  Ash  (Fraxinus  Americana).  Abundant  near  Lane's 
prairie,  and  on  Bourbeuse  creek,  in  Maries  county. 

Blue  Ash  (Fraxinus  quadrangulata).     On  good  soil. 

Prickly  Ash  (Zanthoxylum  Americanum).  In  bottoms  and 
moist  places. 


GEOLOGICAL  REPORT.  77 

BASSWOOD    OR   LINDEN. 

American  Linden  or  Lime  (Tilia  Americana).  On  Sac  and 
Gasconade  rivers.  On  good,  rich  soil. 

BIRCH. 

Red  Birch  or  River  Birch  (Betula  rubra).  On  borders  of 
nearly  all  the  streams. 

BLACKBERRY. 

Low  Blackberry  or  Dewberry  (Rubus  Canadensis).  In  open 
forests. 

Wedge-leaved  Blackberry  (Rubus  cuneifolius) .  In  forests 
adjacent  to  the  bottoms  of  all  the  larger  streams. 

BLADDER-NUT. 

American  Bladder-nut  (Staphylea  trifolia).  In  rich  bottoms 
and  on  the  debris  at  the  bases  of  the  bluffs. 

BUCKEYE. 
Large  Buckeye  {JEsculus  lute  a),  in  rich  bottoms. 

BLUEBERRY. 

Huckleberry  (Vaccinium  ).  On  flint  hills,  in  Taney, 

Green,  Maries  and  Gasconade  counties. 

Blueberry  (  Vaccininm  vacillans}.  On  flint  hills,  in  Taney  and 
Green  counties. 

BOX   ELDER. 

Box  Elder  or  Ash-leaved  Maple  (Negundo  aceroides).  Abun- 
dant in  rich  bottoms. 

BURNING   BUSH. 

Burning  Bush  (Eaionymus  atropurpureus) .  On  Little  Pomme 
de  Terre — very  beautiful  when  in  fruit. 

BUTTON-WOOD. 

Sycamore  (Platanus  occidentalis) .  In  the  bottoms  of  all 
our  principal  streams. 

BUTTON   BUSH. 

Button  Bush  (Cephalanthus  occidentalis) .  In  wet  places  and 
beside  streams — not  very  abundant. 

CEDAR. 

Red  Cedar  (Juniperus  Virginiana).  On  dry  limestone  bluffs, 
along  many  of  the  larger  streams.  Very  abundant  in  Franklin 
county,  near  the  Meramec  river. 

CHERRY. 

Black  or  Wild  Cherry  (Cerasus  serotina,  D.  C.).  On  the 
best  soils. 


78  GEOLOGICAL  REPORT. 

COFFEE  TREE. 

Coffee  Tree  (Gymnocladus  Canadensis).  In  rich  soil,  bot- 
toms and  highland. 

COTTON-WOOD. 

Cotton-wood  (Populus  Canadensis).  On  river  bottoms  ;  not 
very  abundant  in  south-west  Missouri. 

CORAL   BERRY. 

Coral  Berry  or  Indian  Currant  (Symphoricarpus  vulgaris). 
Everywhere  on  good  soil. 

CURRANT. 

Currant  {Ribes).     Several  species,  but  none  are  abundant. 

DOGWOOD. 

Flowering  Dogwood  (Cornus  Florida).  On  bluffs  and 
ridges ;  generally  very  sparse,  but  found  in  most  of  the  counties. 

Panicled  Dogwood  (Cornus  paniculata) .  In  ravines  and  wet 
bottoms. 

Rough-leaved  Dogwood  (Cornus  asperifolia) .  Not  abundant. 

Silky  Dogwood  (Cornus  cericea).     In  wet  bottoms. 

ELDER. 

Common  Elder  (Sambucus  Canadensis).  Very  large  in  the 
rich  bottoms. 

ELM. 

White  or  American  Elm  (  Ulmus  Americana) .  Found  on  the 
richest  soils,  in  all  the  counties. 

Slippery  Elm  or  Red  Elm  (  Ulmus  rubra).  On  good  soils,  in 
all  the  counties. 

Wahoo  Elm  (  Ulmus  alata).     In  Green  county,  on  limestone 

ridges — scarce. 

GRAPE. 

Summer  Grape  (Vitis  cestivalis).     Abundant  on  good  soils. 
Fox  Grape  (Vitis  labrusca).     On  good  soil. 
Winter  or  Frost  Grape  (Vitis  cordifolia).     On  good  soil. 
Muscadine  (  Vitis  vulpina).  On  rocky  ridges  and  rich  bottoms. 
River  Grape  (  Vitis  riparia).     In  alluvial  bottoms. 

GREEN   BRIER. 

Green  Brier  (  Smilax  rotundifolia).  In  thickets  and  beside 
fields. 

Glaucus  Green  Brier  (  Smilax g-lauca).  In  thickets,  ravines, 
and  beside  roads. 


GEOLOGICAL  REPORT.  79 

Smilax  pseudo-China.  In  Taney  county,  along  the  richer 
valleys. 

Smilax  bona-nox.     Abundant  on  shrubs  by  the  fences. 
Smilax  quadrangular  is.     In  thickets  and  fence  corners. 
Smilax  hastata.     In  thickets  on  good  soil. 

GOOSEBERRY. 

Prickly  Gooseberry  (Ribes  cynosbati).     Abundant. 
Wild  Gooseberry  (Ribes  rotundifolia).     In  woods  and  on 
borders  of  prairies.     On  rich  land. 

GUM. 
Black  Gum  (Nyssa  multiflora).     In  Maries  county. 

HACKBERRY. 

American  Nettle  Tree  or  Hackberry. 

(Celtis  occidentalis) .     In  rich  soil. 

Hackberry  (Celtis  incrassifolia).  In  rich  soils  and  low 
grounds. 

HAZLE. 

American  Hazle  (Corylus  Americana).  In  rich  prairies  and 
on  the  borders  of  the  forests. 

HAW. 

Black  Haw  (  Viburnum  prunifoliuni) .  In  open  forests,  on 
good  soil.  • 

Red  Haw  (see  Thorn) . 

HICKORY. 

Common  or  Mockernut  Hickory  (Carya  tomentosa).  In  dry, 
good  soil. 

Shellbark  Hickory  (Vary a  alba).     Not  common. 

Thick  Shellbark  Hickory  (Caryasulcata).  Only  in  very  rich 
bottoms. 

Pignut  Hickory  (Carya  porcina).     Rare  on  good  soil. 

Black  or  Bullnut  Hickory  (Gary  a,  microcarpa?).  Very 
abundant  on  poor  soil,  associated  with  black-jack  and  post  oak. 

Bitternut  Hickory  (Carya  amara).  On  Caps  creek,  in  New- 
ton county. 

HONEYSUCKLE. 

Yellow  Honeysuckle  (Loniceraflavd).  In  Taney  and  Green 
counties. 

Small-flowered  Honeysuckle  (Lonicera  parviflora) .     Rare. 

HORNBEAM. 

Hop  Hornbeam  (  Ostrya  Virginica).  Near  streams  and  rocky 
branches  on  hill-sides. 


80  GEOLOGICAL   REPORT. 

American  Hornbeam  or  Ironwood  ( Carpinus  Americana) .  On 
rocky  hill-sides  and  sometimes  in  the  bottoms  of  the  smaller 
creeks. 

IRONWOOD  (see  Hornbeam). 

JUDAS   TREE. 

Red  Bud  or  Judas  Tree  {Cercis  Canadensis).  Abundant 
on  good  soil. 

LOCUST. 

Sweet  or  Honey  Locust  (Gleditschia  triacanthos').  In  the 
richest  soils.  Not  so  abundant  as  in  some  other  parts  of  the 
State. 

LINDEN  (see  Basswood). 

MAPLE. 

White  Maple  (Acer  eriocarpum).  In  the  river  bottoms,  on 
sandy  alluvium. 

Sugar  Tree  (Acer  nigrum  ?).     In  Taney,  Green,  &c. 

MULBERRY. 

Red  Mulberry  (Morus  rubra).  On  rich  lands  ;  generally 
scarce. 

NETTLE  TREE  (see  Hackberry). 

OSAGE-ORANGE. 

Osag-e-orang-e  (Madura  aurantiaca) .  In  the  valley  of  Spring 
river. 

OAKS. 

First  Division — Leaves  lobed,  lobes  rounded. 

White  Oak  (Quercus  alba).  Dry  soil,  generally  on  hills; 
but  is  often  found  in  the  valleys  of  the  lesser  streams.  On  all 
the  better  lands  in  Maries  county,  valleys  and  ridges  in  Taney, 
and  on  the  high  lands  of  medium  quality  in  all  the  counties. 

Over  cup  White  Oak  or  Bur  Oak  (Quercus  macrocarpa). 
On  rich  soils — good  timber. 

Post  Oak  (  Quercus  obtusiloba).  Dry,  poor  soils  ;  timber 
most  durable  of  all  our  oaks;  very  common. 

Second  Division — Leaves  coarsely  toothed. 

Swamp  White  Oak,  often  called  Bur  Oak  (  Quercus  bicolor). 
On  low,  rich  and  damp  soil. 

Chestnut  White  Oak  (Quercus  prinus).  Wet,  rich  soil,  in 
shaded  places. 

Rock  Chestnut  Oak  ( Quercus  monticola').  Dry  soil,  on 
rocky  bluffs  and  ridges. 


GEOLOGICAL   REPORT.  81 

Chestnut  or  Yellow  Oak  (Quercus  acuminata).  On  lime- 
stone bluffs  and  dry  bottoms. 

Chinquapin  or  Dwarf  Chestnut  Oak  (  Quercus  prinoides  ?). 
On  limestone  bluffs  larger  than  usual.  Acorns  often  peduncled. 

Third  Division — Leaves  entire. 

Laurel  Oak,  erroneously  called  Pin  Oak  (  Quercus  imbri- 
i aria').  On  the  borders  of  prairies  and  fields.  On  rich  land. 

fourth  Division — Leaves  lobed,  lobes  mitcronate. 

Black  Jack  Oak  (  Quercus  nigra) .  On  the  poorest  soils  ;  very 
common  on  the  barrens  in  all  the  counties  of  South-west  Mis- 
souri. 

Black  Oak  (Quercus  tinctoria).  Abundant  on  good  and 
medium  soil — excellent  timber. 

Scarlet  Oak  (Quercus  coccinea).     On  good  soil. 

Red  Oak  (Quercus  rubra).  On  damp,  rich  soil,  especially 
in  the  bottoms. 

Pin  Oak  (Quercus  palustris).  In  swamps  and  wet  land — 
scarce  in  South-west  Missouri. 

Gray  Oak  (Quercus  ambigua?).     On  good  soil. 

Spanish  Oak  (  Quercus  falcatci) .     Rare  in  the  South-west. 

PAWPAW. 

Pawpaw  (Anona  triloba).  In  rich  soils,  particularly  under 
limestone  bluffs. 

PERSIMMON. 

Persimmon  (Diospyros  Virginiana).  Scarce  in  South-west 
Missouri.  In  good  soil ;  borders  of  prairies  and  fields. 

PINE. . 

Yellow  Pine  (Pinus  mitis).  In  Crawford,  McDonald,  and 
Washington  counties. 

PLUM. 

Red  Plum  (Prunus  Americana).  In  bottoms,  and  on  borders 
of  the  prairies — rich  soil. 

Chickasaw  Plum  (Prunus  Chicasa). 

PRICKLY   ASH. 

Prickly  Ash  (Zanthoxylum  Americanum).    In  wet  places,  on 
the  borders  of  prairies  and  forests. 
6 


82  GEOLOGICAL  REPORT. 

RATAN. 

Ratan  (  Wistaria  frutescens) . 

ROSE. 

Prairie  Rose  (Rosa  setigera).  Prairies  and  open  forests. 
Several  other  species  were  observed,  as  R.  blanda  and  R.  lucida. 

RASPBERRY. 

Red  Raspberry  (Rubus  strigosus).  On  borders  of  fields  and 
forests. 

Black  Raspberry  or  Thimbleberry  (Rubus  occidentalis) .  In 
open  forests  and  beside  roads  and  fields. 

SYCAMORE. 

Buttomvood  or  American  Plane  Tree  (Platanus  occidentalis) . 
In  the  bottoms  of  all  the  principal  streams. 

SUMACH. 

Dwarf  Sumach  (Rhus  copallina).  Common  by  the  borders 
of  fields,  roads  and  prairies. 

Smooth  Sumach  (Rhus  glabra).   Road  sides  and  open  forests. 

Stag-horn  Sumach  (Rhus  typhina).  Often  in  clusters  in 
prairies. 

Poison  Ivy  or  Poison  Oak  (Rhus  toxicodendrori).  On  rich 
soils,  large  and  abundant. 

Fragrant  Sumach  (Rhus  aromatica).  Abundant  in  forests 
and  by  roads  and  fields. 

SPIRJ3A. 

Flowering   Spircea,  Nine-bark  or  Sevcti-bark  (Spiraa  ojmli- 
folia  L.).     On  limestone  bluffs,  bordering  streams. 
Spircea  corymbosa.     On  dry  prairies  and  ridges. 

SASSAFRAS. 

Sassafras  (Laurus  Sassafras).  On  medium  soil ;  not  common. 

SARSAPARILLA. 

Sarsaparilla.     Near  streams,  on  rich  soil. 

SERVICE-BERRY. 

Wild  Service-Berry  or  Shad-bush  (Amelanchier  Canadensis). 
On  bluffs  and  in  forests.  Common  on  most  streams,  most,  abun- 
dant on  Pomme  do  Torre  and  Swan  creek. 

STAFF-TREE. 

Staff- Tree  (Celastrus  scandens).  On  river  banks  and  broken 
bluffs. 


GEOLOGICAL   REPORT. 


83 


THORN. 

Black  Thorn  (Cratcegus  tomentosa).     In  rich  forests. 
Red  Haw  (Cratcegus  coccinea).     Abundant  in  open  forests. 
Dotted  Thorn  ( Cratcegus  punctata) .     On  bluffs  and  ridges. 
The  following  species  of  Thorn  were  also  observed: — Cratce- 
crus-galli, Cratcegus  spatlmlata,  Cratcegus  apifolia. 

TRUMPET-CREEPER. 

Trumpet  Creeper  (Tecoma  radicans).     Inmost  counties  on 
rich  soil,  climbing  over  trees. 

Virginian  Creeper  (Ampelopsis  qidnquefolia) . 

WALNUT. 

Black  Walnut  (Juglans  nigra).    In  bottoms  and  common  on 
high,  rich  soil.     In  all  the  counties. 

White   Walnut  or  Butternut  (Juglans  cathartica).     In  low, 
rich  soil,  and  under  bluffs. 

WILLOW. 

Salix.     Several  species  were  observed  on  the  borders  of  the 
several  streams. 

WINTER-BERRY. 

Winter-Berry  (Prinos  lavigatus).     In  low,  wet  forests  and 
thickets. 

WITCH-HAZLE. 

Witch-Hazle  (Hamamelis    Virginia*).      Taney  county,   on 
Swan  creek. 

WATER. 

There  is,  probably,  no  part  of  this  continent  that  can  boast 
of  so  large  a  number  of  bold,  limpid  springs,  whose  pure,  cool 
waters  gush  forth  in  such  abundance  to  beautify  and  refresh  the 
land.  Bryce's  Spring,  on  the  Niangua,  is  one  of  the  largest. 
It  rises  in  a  secluded  valley  where  it  forms  a  small  pond  and 
then  flows  away — a  river.  This  river,  just  below  where  it  flows 
from  the  spring,  is  126  feet  wide,  and  has  an  average  depth  of 
about  one  foot,  and  its  velocity  is  a  little  more  than  one  foot  per 
second.  This  immense  spring  discharges  more  than  126  cubic 
feet  of  water  per  second,  455,326  per  hour,  and  10,927,872 
cubic  feet  per  day.  The  water  is  nearly  pure,  sustains  about 
the  same  temperature  at  all  seasons,  and  shows  no  perceptible 
fluctuations  in  quantity  either  in  the  dryest  or  wettest  seasons. 


84  GEOLOGICAL   REPORT. 

This  is  one  of  the  many  hundred  large  springs  whose  pure 
waters  unite  and  form  the  numerous  streams  which  flow  from 
this  table  land.  Many  of  them  furnish  the  very  best  water- 
power  for  driving  mills  and  factories.  In  some  respects  it  is 
more  desirable  than  that  offered  by  ordinary  streams. 

The  water  is  so  warm  during  the  winter  that  no  ice  forms 
about  the  wheels  or  other  machinery. 

The  supply  of  water  is  constant,  and  the  quantity  about  the 
same  at  all  seasons,  so  that  the  works  are  never  endangered  by 
freshets,  or  compelled  to  remain  idle  for  the  want  of  the  usual 
quantity  of  water. 

These  advantages  have  been  fully  tested  and  are  duly  appre- 
ciated, as  one  would  judge  from  the  great  number  of  mills  lo- 
cated on  these  springs. 

The  streams  formed  by  these  springs  are  numerous,  clear  and 
rapid,  furnishing  sufficient  water-power  to  drive  all  the  mills 
and  factories  demanded  by  any  ordinary  population.  While 
the  springs  and  streams  large  enough  to  furnish  good  mill  sites 
are  very  numerous,  the  smaller  fountains  and  branches  are  so 
abundant,  that  every  farm  may  be  supplied.  In  short,  the  pure, 
limpid  fountains  and  streams  of  this  region  are  unrivalled  in 
beauty  and  adaptation  to  the  wants  of  man — they  have  chal- 
lenged the  admiration  and  praise  of  every  traveler. 

POPULATION. 

So  little  has  been  known  of  the  vast  resources  and  numerous 
advantages  of  this  region,  that  many  parts  of  it  are  only  sparsely 
populated.  But  a  hardy,  energetic,  intelligent  and  thrifty  yeo- 
manry are  rapidly  opening  the  country,  while  the  flourishing 
towns  are  filling  up  with  a  wealthy  and  refined  population. 

SCHOOLS    AND    CHURCHES. 

Public  schools  are  everywhere  established,  and  most  liberally 
sustained  by  donations  of  lands  and  a  large  part  of  the  State 
revenues.  Every  town  has  its  private  schools  established  by 
the  munificence  of  the  citizens,  and  sustained  by  a  universal 


GEOLOGICAL  REPORT.  5O 

desire  for  a  complete  and  thorough  education.     Many  of  them 
have  fine  buildings,  and  are  most  excellent  schools. 

Churches  are  numerous,  varying  in  style  from  the  plain  log- 
building  to  the  elegant  brick  edifice.  Many  of  them  are  most 
tastefully  located  amid  the  beautiful  scenery  of  this  favored 
country. 

I  have  thus  attempted,  in  a  somewhat  hasty  and  imperfect 
manner,  to  delineate  some  of  the  more  important  natural  re- 
sources and  advantages  of  the  county  through  which  the  South- 
western Branch  of  your  road  has  been  located  and  partially 
built.  Great  care  has  been  taken  to  keep  within  the  bounds 
of  facts  well  authenticated  and  such  deductions  as  might  be 
legitimately  drawn  from  those  facts.  It  may  be  proper  here  to 
state,  that  our  explorations  have  been,  of  necessity,  but  partial, 
and  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  a  full  and  careful  examination 
of  this  county  would  enable  us  to  more  than  double  the  very 
extensive  catalogue  of  mineral  localities  already  known. 


COMPANY    LANDS. 

The  lands  of  your  company  contain  more  than  a  fair  propor- 
tion of  the  good  soil  and  mineral  wealth  of  this  region.  The 
town  of  Granby  and  other  localities  of  lead,  which  appear 
equally  good,  and  many  of  the  best  iron  beds,  are  on  the  lands 
donated  to  the  South-western  Branch.  The  value  of  your  min- 
eral lands  is  very  great,  and  can  scarcely  be  realized  until  the 
road  is  completed  and  the  mineral  raised  will  sell  for  some- 
thing near  its  market  value  in  other  localities.  The  good  agri- 
cultural lands  cover  a  vast  extent  of  fine  country ;  and  their 
value,  already  somewhat  appreciated,  will  be  greatly  increased 
by  the  completion  of  the  road.  All  of  the  poorer  lands  will  be 
demanded  for  timber  and  pasture  ;  and  the  day  is  not  far  dis- 
tant when  those  broken  ridges  and  flint  hills,  which  have  here- 
tofore been  deemed  worthless,  will  command  the  highest  prices 
for  the  cultivation  of  the  grape. 

Some  of  your  mineral  lands  would  be  cheap  at  $1,000  per 
acre,  and  $10  per  acre  would  be  a  very  low  valuation  for  the 


86  GEOLOGICAL  REPORT. 

whole  when  the  road  is  completed.     At  this  minimum  value 
they  would  yield  more  than  $11,000,000. 

We  have  thus  presented,  in  as  brief  a  space  as  possible,  some 
of  the  leading  features  of  the  country  through  which  the  South- 
western Branch  of  the  Pacific  Railroad  passes.  The  facts  pre- 
sented will  doubtless  cause  all  to  appreciate  in  some  good  de- 
gree the  numerous  and  distinguished  natural  advantages  of 
this  favored  portion  of  our  State ;  but  to  realize  the  whole 
truth,  one  must  see  for  himself;  he  must  inhale  the  pure  bra- 
cing air  beside  the  bold  fountains  and  limpid  streams,  on  the 
broad  waving  prairies  and  in  the  extensive  oak  openings  ;  he 
must  descend  into  the  cavern  and  the  mine,  and  behold  the 
glowing  furnaces  sending  forth  their  streams  of  iron  and  lead ; 
he  should  examine  the  broad  acres  ripe  for  the  golden  harvest, 
and  enjoy  the  generous  hospitality  of  the  country  farm-house 
and  the  village  mansion  ; — in  short,  he  should  see  for  himself 
this  favored  country,  possessed  by  a  hardy,  energetic  and  noble 
people. 


APPENDIX. 


(A.) 

THE    CASSWELL   MINE. 

Since  the  foregoing  report  was  written,  I  have  had  the  pleas 
ure  of  visiting  this  valuable  mine  in  company  with  the  lion, 
John  P.  Darby,  one  of  the  proprietors.  It  is  situated  on  the 
N.  J  of  the  S.W.  qr.  Sec.  34,  T.  42,  R.  1  E.,  in  the  bluff  of  the 
southern  side  of  the  Meramec.  At  the  mine  the  bluff  rises 
rather  abruptly  to  the  height  of  some  200  feet.  The  rocks  at 
the  base  are  the  upper  beds  of  the  3d  Magnesian  Limestone, 
and  those  cropping  out  on  the  brow  of  the  hill,  near  the  top, 
arc  the  lower  beds  of  the  2d  Sandstone. 

The  vein  was  discovered  in  the  fall  of  1855  by  Mr.  Brewer, 
who  opened  the  mine  and  raised  about  12,000  pounds  of  gale- 
na. It  was  next  worked  by  Mr.  Erie  Standifer,  who  took  out 
some  15,000  pounds  of  the  ore.  Mr.  Michael  Dolan  has  worked 
it  from  time  to  time  since  1856  under  the  direction  of  the  pres- 
ent owners,  Messrs.  Darby,  Vandeventer  and  Beardslee,  and 
has  raised  about  100,000  pounds  of  good  galena. 

Mr.  Dolan's  systematic  operations  very  clearly  indicate  the 
characters  and  value  of  the  vein.  It  cuts  through  the  bluff  in 
a  direction  nearly  north  and  south,  and  almost  perpendicular, 
but  inclining  a  little  to  the  east  in  its  descent.  The  lead  ore 
is  nearly  all  the  sulphuret,  though  the  carbonate  sometimes 
occurs.  The  gangue  is  heavy  spar,  calc  spar,  and  red  clay. 
The  thickness  of  the  vein  varies  from  two  inches  to  ten.  This 


88  GEOLOGICAL   REPORT. 

vein,  like  the  Evans,  cuts  through  the  lower  beds  of  the  2d 
Sandstone  and  down  into  the  3d  Magnesian  Limestone,  which 
forms  the  base  of  the  bluff.  From  a  point  on  the  slope  near 
the  base  of  the  Sandstone  a  shaft  has  been  sunk  95  feet  into  the 
Limestone,  and  an  adit  has  been  run  on  the  vein  some  200  feet 
from  near  the  base  of  the  bluff,  intersecting  the  shaft  above 
named.  The  appearance,  position  and  direction  of  this  vein 
seem  to  indicate  that  it  is  a  continuation  of  the  Evans  Lode,* 
on  the  south  side  of  the  ridge,  which  some  have  supposed  to  be 
a  part  of  the  Mount  Hope  vein. 

Whether  these  veins  shall  prove  to  be  one  and  the  same,  and 
whether  they  prove  to  be  true  veins,  extending  down  indefinite- 
ly, or  merely  to  the  base  of  the  formation  in  which  they  are 
found,  they  can  not  fail  to  be  extensive  and  valuable.  The 
length  of  the  two  is  not  less  than  one  mile,  and  the  average 
depth  of  the  parts  not  worked,  to  the  bottom  of  the  3d  Magne- 
sian Limestone,  can  not  be  less  than  300  feet,  and  is  probably 
between  400  and  500  feet. 

In  estimating  the  profits  of  mining  on  these  veins,  it  will  be 
safe  to  put  down  the  length  at  one  mile  and  the  depth  below 
the  Sandstone  at  400  feet,  and  that  the  remainder  of  the  vein 
will  prove  as  rich  or  even  richer  than  the  parts  worked  out. 
But  these  estimates  are  made  upon  the  most  unfavorable  opin- 
ions respecting  the  character  of  these  lead  veins.  The  opinion 
expressed  by  some  geologists  that  these  are  only  Gash-veins, 
and  confined  to  one  formation,  the  3d  Magnesian  Limestone, 
has  no  support  in  the  appearance  of  the  country  or  the  charac- 
ter of  the  veins  themselves.  And  I  submit  the  proposition, 
with  all  due  deference  to  the  opinions  of  others,  that  no  geolo- 
gist can  examine  the  phenomena  presented  by  this  vein,  and 
the  Evans  Mine,  and  the  Virginia  Mine,  and  make  them  con- 
form in  any  tolerable  degree  to  the  definition  given  of  a  Gash- 
vein.  On  the  contrary,  all  the  facts  observed  point  most  signifi- 
cantly to  the  characters  of  true  veins — veins  which  extend 
downwards  indefinitely,  without  regard  to  the  limits  of  forma- 
tions. With  this  view  of  the  character  of  these  veins,  which  I 
conceive  to  be  the  true  one,  the  value  of  these  and  the  neigh- 

*  Sec  page  49. 


GEOLOGICAL   REPORT.  89 

boring  mines  will  be  vastly  increased,  as  there  will  be  no  fear 
of  exhausting  them. 

The  unfavorable  opinion  respecting  the  Lead  Mines  of  Mis- 
souri, which  has  prevailed  to  some  extent  among  foreign  mi- 
ners and  capitalists,  has  arisen,  I  apprehend,  from  the  erroneous 
opinions  of  some  geologists  that  our  mines  have  characteristics 
and  geological  relations  similar  to  those  of  the  Wisconsin  mines. 
While  I  shall  not  deny  that  some  of  our  lead  veins  resemble 
those  of  Wisconsin,  and  appear  like  Gash-veins,  there  are  many 
others  in  which  the  analogy  does  not  hold  good  in  any  one  im- 
portant character. 

1.  According  to  Mr.  Whitney,  the  valuable  Lead  veins  of 
Wisconsin  are  confined  to  a  formation  not  more  than  100  feet 
thick  ;  but  in  Missouri  the  most  valuable  veins  range  through 
three  formations,  the  aggregate  thickness  of  which  is  not  less 
than  1,000  feet. 

2.  In  Wisconsin  the  Lead  veins  are  limited  to  one  formation 
in  the  upper  part  of  the  Lower  Silurian  System,  while  in  Mis- 
souri the  most  valuable  veins  range  through  two  members  of 
the  Carboniferous  system  and  the  two  lower  formations  of  the 
Silurian. 

3.  While  in  Wisconsin,  so  far  as  I  know,  there  are  no  eviden- 
ces of  extensive  igneous  action  or  violent  disturbances  in  the 
neighborhood  of  the  lead  mines,  in  Missouri,  both  within  and 
around  the  lead  field,  there  are  most  decisive  proofs  of  exten- 
sive igneous    action  and  violent   disturbances — mountains  of 
granite  and  porphyry  have  been  thrown  up — mountains  and 
ridges  of  porphyry  have  been  fractured  and  rent  asunder,  and 
the  fissures  filled  with  dykes   (veins)  of  granite,  greenstone, 
quartz,  basalt,  dolerite  and  porphyry,  and  true  veins  of  copper 
and  wolfram,*  and  veins  (where  the  metalic  ore  fills  the  entire 
fissure)  of  specular  iron  and  galena ;  some  of  these  dykes  pass 
into  the  sedimentary  rocks,  changing  the  sandstone  to  quart- 
zite  and  the  limestone  (the  lower  lead-bearing  beds)  into  crys- 
talline marble. 

4.  In  Wisconsin  the  profitable  veins  have  not  extended  more 


*  Dr.  Norwood  is  my  authority  for  these  veins  of  copper,  wolfram  and  dol- 
erite. 


90  GEOLOGICAL   REPORT. 

than  100  feet  in  depth,  but  in  Missouri,  two  shafts  have  been 
sunk  on  the  large  Virginia  vein  to  the  depth  of  260  feet,  with- 
out any  diminution  or  indication  that  it  would  run  out. 

5.  In  Missouri  some  of  the  veins  do  pass  from  the  Limestone 
into  the  Sandstone  above,  as  seen  at  the  Evans  and  the  Caswell 
Mines. 

6.  Many  of  the  veins  in  Missouri  present  all  the  appearances 
of  true  veins  ;   dislocations  and  disturbances  have  been  produ- 
ced by  powerful  agencies,  as  indicated  in  some  places  by  the 
fragments  of  the  original  strata  filling  a  part  of  the  fissure,  by 
well  marked  and  extensive  slickensides,  by  the  displacement  of 
the  strata,  and  the  irregularity  of  the  fissure. 

7.  The  veins  are  often  very  long;  some  have  been  explored 
more  than  one  mile. 

8.  In  many  mines  the  fissures  are  filled  as  they  usually  are 
in  true  veins;  the  sheet  of  galena  runs  through  the  middle, 
with  a  gangue  of  heavy  spar  or  calc  spar,  or  both,  on  each  side. 

9.  Selvages,  so  remarkable  in  true  veins,  also  occur  in  the 
Missouri  mines. 

Such  are  some  of  the  facts  which  should  lead  us  to  suspect 
the  validity  of  all  arguments  drawn  from  any  apparent  analogy 
between  the  Wisconsin  mines  and  our  own.  And  besides,  even 
on  the  supposition  that  our  veins  do  not  extend  below  the  base 
of  the  3d  Magnesian  limestone,  there  is  still  from  200  to  400 
feet  of  this  rock  below  the  deepest  workings  of  nearly  all  the 
mines  in  the  counties  of  Jefferson,  Franklin,  Crawford,  and  the 
north  of  Washington  ;  while  in  the  South-west  the  lead-bearing 
portion  of  the  Mountain  Limestone  is  at  least  200  feet  thick. 
Below  these  beds  are  the  Chemung  rocks,  which  are  not  over 
100  feet  in  thickness.  Whether  the  lead  passes  down  through 
this  formation  is  not  known,  as  no  vein  has  been  traced  or 
worked  to  it.  The  character  of  the  rock,  however,  does  not 
indicate  the  existence  of  valuable  veins,  though  some  deposits 
of  lead  and  copper  have  been  discovered  in  it.  In  passing  from 
the  Chemung  rocks  near  the  northern  boundary  of  Taney,  we 
come  directly  upon  the  lead-bearing  rocks  of  that  county,  which 
are  the  2d  and  3d  Magnesian  Limestones.  The  1st  and  2d 
Sandstones  are  very  thin  or  entirely  wanting  in  this  part  of  the 


GEOLOGICAL   EEPORT.  91 

county,  while  the  2d  and  3d  Magnesian  Limestones  present  an 
aggregate  thickness  varying  from  600  to  1,000  feet. 

These  facts  show  that  the  mines  of  Newton  and  Jasper  have 
beneath  them  at  least  1,000  feet  of  lead-bearing  limestones,  and 
those  in  Taney  from  600  to  800  feet  of  the  lower  part  of  the 
same  beds.  In  view  of  these  conclusions,  based  as  they  are 
upon  the  most  unfavorable  opinions  entertained  by  any  of  the 
character  of  our  veins,  the  miner  and  capitalist  need  not  fear 
the  exhaustion  of  our  lead  mines ;  but,  when  they  take  into 
consideration  the  facts  above  stated,  which  show  an  entire  want 
of  analogy  between  our  own  mines  and  those  on  the  Upper 
Mississippi,  and  which  point  so  conclusively  to  the  most  relia- 
ble characteristics  of  true  veins,  their  fears,  if  any  still  exist, 
that  our  lead  mines  have  seen  their  most  prosperous  days, 
must  be  banished,  and  they  will  continue  their  operations  with 
brighter  hopes  of  eminent  success. 

These  views  are  fully  sustained  by  the  most  recent  develop- 
ments of  our  mines,  as  some  of  the  oldest  have  been  reopened 
and  worked  with  greater  success  than  ever  before  ;  and  besides 
the  deepest  diggings  have  often  proved  the  most  profitable. 

While,  then,  it  may  be  true  that  some  of  our  lead  deposits 
are  only  gash-veins,  others  (and  among  them  the  Casswell) 
give  every  indication  of  being  true  veins. 


92  GEOLOGICAL   REPORT. 

(B.) 

GRANBY    LEAD   MINES. 

It  has  been  somewhat  difficult  to  get  a  reliable  statement  of 
the  amount  of  lead  made  from  the  Granby  Mines  ;  but  from 
the  best  information  derived  from  the  miners,  the  smelters,  and 
the  present  proprietors,  Messrs.  Blow  &  Kennett,  the  amount 
of  lead  made  can  not  be  less  than  seven  million  or  eight  mil- 
lion pounds.  I  am  indebted  to  Mr.  Blow  for  the  following 
statement  of  the  operations  of  the  company  : 

"From  the  1st  February  to  1st  September,  20,000  pigs,  aver- 
aging 80  J  Ibs.,  have  been  smelted  at  Blow  &  Kennett's  furnace 
at  Granby ;  the  transportation  of  which — by  wagons,  railroads, 
and  steamboats — to  St.  Louis,  has  amounted  to  nearly  twenty 
thousand  dollars. 

"Five  steam  engines  and  over  two  hundred  men  are  em- 
ployed by  this  firm  in  mining  and  smelting,  while  a  much  lar- 
ger number  are  engaged  in  mining  other  shafts  on  the  Granby 
section,  all  belonging  to  the  Pacific  Railroad,  but  under  lease 
to  Blow  &  Kennett. 

"The  usual  cost  of  lead  per  100  Ibs.,  from  the  furnace  to  St. 
Louis,  is  fl.25.  The  visual  price  of  mineral  is  $16  free  of  rent, 
or  $14  and  rent." 


GEOLOGICAL   REPORT.  93 

(C.) 

PARK'S  COPPER  MINE. 

I  am  indebted  to  Mr.  J.  V.  Phillips  for  a  full  report,  illustra- 
ted with  numerous  sections  and  maps,  upon  the  Copper  Mine 
of  Mr.  Andrew  Park,  in  Sec.  17,  T.  40,  R.  1  E.,  Washington 
county.  I  regret  that  I  can  not  publish  it  in  full,  as  it  would 
not  be  intelligible  without  the  sections.  From  it  I  make  the 
following  summary  and  extracts  : 

"  The  vein  is  in  the  upper  part  part  of  the  3d  Magnesian  Lime- 
stone, and  appears  to  run  parallel  with  the  strata,  which  dip 
about  10°  toward  the  center  of  the  ridge.  It  is  seen  on  the 
sides  of  the  ridge  in  several  places  for  more  than  a  mile  in  ex. 
tent,  and  has  been  opened  in  three  localities  ;  in  one,  the  level 
was  extended  fifty  feet  on  the  lode.  The  vein  contains  the 
green  and  blue  carbonates  and  the  yellow  and  gray  sulphurets 
of  copper,  in  a  gangue  of  clay,  heavy  spar,  calc  spar  and  oxide 
of  iron  in  cherty  matter. 

"  Mr.  Park,  who  had  charge  of  the  mining  operations,  thinks 
the  vein  showed  a  disposition  to  open  out,  about  every  eight 
feet,  in  vertical  seams  or  crevices.  These  openings  are  filled 
with  decomposed  flint  and  ferruginous  matter,  and  are  about 
one  foot  wide. 

"  The  ore  in  all  the  openings  evidently  belongs  to  the  same 
vein,  which  is  horizontal,  and  will  doubtless  follow  the  dip  of 
the  Limestone  to  the  center  of  the  ridge  ;  and  each  ridge  may 
be  supposed  to  form  a  copper  basin,  and  the  central  basin  to 
be  the  center  from  which  these  ridges  radiate.  The  richest 
portion  of  the  vein  or  deposit  may  be  looked  for  near  the  cen- 
ter of  the  basin.  There  is  evidently  a  large  amount  of  copper 
ore  in  these  basins,  and  it  lies  in  a  good  position  for  economical 
mining." 

About  ten  tons  of  the  ore  has  been  taken  out ;  it  yields 
about  twenty  per  cent  of  copper. 

Mr.  Phillips  estimates  the  profits  on  every  hundred  tons  of 
ore  raised  and  shipped  to  Baltimore,  at  $5,950. 


ERR  ATA. 

On  page  1,  5th  line,  for  "have"  read  "has." 

On  page  8,  7th  line  from  bottom,  for  "a  part"  read  "parts." 

On  page  10,  for  the  amount  of  potash   in   No.  12   A,   for    "6.3368"   read 
0.3368." 

On  page  48,  1st  line,  for  "stopped"  read  "stoped." 


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